Archive for the Energy saving Category

How to Reduce Your Energy Bill

Thursday, May 6th, 2010

For most businesses, energy usage is one of the largest environmental impacts and is an area where there are often significant savings to be made. Last year Carbon Trust noted that with few no cost measures, organisations could save 10% of business energy costs and with a few low cost options, this could be 20%. At E Advantage, this is the sort of activity we like – one with a great return on investment.

So how can you go about making these savings?  We’ve compiled a few no cost and low cost options to get you underway.

Do an audit of your energy use
Energy can be best managed when its usage levels are well understood. As a starting point, compile a summary of how much energy you have been using over the last 12 months, what this has been costing and what the major uses of it were. Plot the energy usage over time in a graph, look for any obvious peaks and troughs and consider what they may result from.

Smart metering and sub-metering
A better understanding of the largest sources of energy use can be gained through smart metering and sub-metering. This is especially important to large or diverse sites, where there may be several large pieces of machinery in use.

Be frugal
Many of the largest savings are ones that that can be simply put in place, if the knowledge and willingness is there. These can often be identified by walking around the site and can include simple measures such as:

• Turning lights and equipment off (not putting it on standby) when not in the room
• Opening / closing windows instead of using the air conditioning and heating
• Ensuring the heating and air conditioning are not on together (…it happens!)
• Making use of daylight where possible – often this is enough for most of the day
• Ensuring the thermostatic valves set to the correct temperature
• Consider campaigns to spread this information with colleagues

Look at your lighting
The International Energy Agency say that 10% of electricity can often be saved by switching to more efficient lighting systems. Switch from tungsten lighting to compact fluorescents or LED’s for example, which use around a quarter as much energy and last many times longer.

Automated solutions
Because people are busy and it’s easy to overlook simple savings, why not consider technologies that can make it a bit easier. These can include installing lighting sensors and automated power down for appliances (e.g. for computers at the end of the day).

Lifecycle thinking
Energy usage relates to behaviour and the operational environment. It’s often helpful to consider all stages of the product or service delivery alongside the principles as the energy hierarchy. Where can energy usage be eliminated (possibly by removing processes), where can it be reduced (for example through efficient fleet management) and where can it be reused (for example using heat exchange ventilation technologies)or produced renewably.

Wider options
Consider sourcing your energy from a green supplier who heavily invests in renewables, such as Good Energy, Infinis or Ecotricity. Even better why not look at installing micro-generation equipment and produce your own renewable energy? Instead of paying for energy you may even be able to sell something back to the grid. Small, efficient wind turbines, ground source heat pumps and solar PV are all worth considering – what works best depends on your location, site and energy requirements.

E Advantage are experts in all aspects of energy reduction, including the installation of building management systems, energy management systems and renewable technologies. An award winning lighting consultant is always on hand to answer your questions and specify the best lighting technologies to save energy without compromising the quality of the lighting.

For more information on any of the points in this article call us anytime and we’ll be happy to help you cut your energy usage and bills.

Tags: cost savings, energy bill, reduce energy usage
Posted in Energy saving