Winter warmer
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paitelforce recently announced it made a 5% saving on its energy bill, which is reckoned to be worth £200,000 a year. The parcel operator attributed its success to working with its staff to reduce unnecessary expenditure on gas, electricity, heating oil and water. But savings on energy bills are not unique to Parcel force and you too can save money, whether by lagging roof space or keeping your loading bay doors closed. But if you want to make real savings, where do you start?
Stage 1: Coned information The starting point is to be open minded and appoint someone to carry (lot the exercise. If your business is large and complicated and the energy bill is higher than ,f10,000 a year, it may he appropriate to hire a consultant. However, many sources of free advice and help are also available. If you arc small, the assessment of your energy use and exploring methods of effecting savings is relatively simple.
Stage 2 : Assess information
Establish the facts by assembling past bills and analysing them. This will bring home the scale of your energy Wit:, the different types of use and costs. If you can find bills that extend beyond a year, the effect of seasonal climate change should also be apparent. It may help if you turn the information into a graphs so any changes you make can be easily identified. A simple chart of energy use plotted against time is the most effective.
Stage 3 Check tariffs From the assembled information the first savings may already be apparent when you check that you are on the appropriate tariffs for your use. Check when a decision was made to use a particular tariff and introduce a policy of review on a regular basis. Also, as there are now a number of competing energy suppliers who are obliged to offer you the cheapest option for your situation, go and seek their advice.
Stage 4: Target improvements If you are running a large unit, compare your known energy use against recognised average values for similar buildings. This at least will enable you to assess whether your fuel consumption is unusually high or just requires minor improvement. If your business premises are relatively small, however, it is more productive to make some practical assessments of your building. First, look at the building fabric and systems such as heating and lighting and secondly how the building itself is being used. In summer as in winter, the use of effective climate controls from radiator valves to advanced energy management systems will reap dividends.
The other main losses are related to the poor thermal insulation of the building fabric and inefficient heating boilers. Again, upgrading of these items will cause your energy bills to tumble and in the case of old heating systems, reduce your maintenance costs.
In assessing the adequacy of the building fabric, you should examine the thickness of the walls, which will be either of solid or cavity construction, but nevertheless can be improved by another internal layer of insulation and drylining to form a durable finish. If the building uses thin metal cladding to form the walls and room, as in many factories, extra insulation can be fixed to reduce heat loss. If of traditional timber construction, insulating roof spaces is often overlooked and generally will always benefit from additional material if less than 100mm. Windows and roof lights should be double glazed and you should check that they fit well and have been draught-proofed. External doors should be fitted with self-closers to prevent them being left open.
Check that the boiler is regularly maintained and up to date—too many systems are old but reliable yet inefficient. Heating should be appropriate for the use of the area, heat all areas evenly and operate only in working hours. The simple measures of reducing the operating temperature by even a degree, adjusting the timer accurately and installing thermostatic radiator valves will all help reduce enemy consumption enormously.
Lighting should ideally he a compromise between daylight and artificial lamps are work areas situated near the windows and provided with individual task lighting for instance? Lamps can be very inefficient especially if they are old and have not been cleaned. Traditional filament lamps are wasteful and there is no reason for retaining them in favour of fluorescent lamps or tubes—if the quality of light is unimportant, sodium or tungsten bulbs can be installed cheaper still. In areas such as loading bays where security is an issue movement detectors will mean there is no need to have lights burning all night.
Finally another important factor is the way the building is used—for example: Lack of or poorly maintained draught strips on loading bay doorways; heating and lighting being left on when the building is unoccupied; localised control of heating and ventilation by staff; and hot taps being left running. The solution is one of management rather than physical improvements, and there is much to he said for old-fashioned but effective signs asking staff to turn off the lights!
El by Glyn Thomas