How Your Business Can Lower its Energy Bill

Show of hands: who doesn’t like saving money? We’ll pause a minute and let the sound of crickets fade away, since we know that there’s not a single person reading this who isn’t cost-conscious, and that goes double if you’re running a business. Since some corners simply can’t be cut, and other things need to be scaled back with care so you aren’t compromising the quality of your product or service, you may be looking for additional ways to keep more money in your coffers. Your energy spend can be a great place to start, and Home Ace Plumbing Heating and Air Conditioning has a few simple tips that will help.

Conduct an Energy Audit

The EPA’s EnergyStar site offers a free Use Portfolio Manager that gives you the tools to audit the use of power and water by existing buildings or to benchmark new construction, and set new usage targets. As their site rather obviously (but still helpfully) points out, “you can’t manage what you don’t measure.” If you find the DIY option daunting or too time-consuming, you can also get a professional energy audit. In either case, the goal is to give you a baseline from which you can improve usage and savings alike.

Conduct a Nighttime Audit

This is another important step to take, since many businesses find that a significant chunk of their power use is literally taking place when the lights are on but nobody’s home. If there’s no business case for something to be left on (refrigeration, security systems, anything else that’s mission critical) see what can be shut down without causing interruption or cutting into productivity when everyone arrives in the morning.

Let Your Electronics Help You

If a piece of equipment has a sleep or power saver mode, use it. This is important during off-hours, but also comes in handy during the day. Encourage your employees to power down, or use less power, during their lunch hour, staff meetings, and other times of day when they’re not actively using their equipment. Similarly, migrating certain services to the cloud can cut down on the local use of servers or desktop processing power, thereby consuming less power and throwing off less heat.

Use Natural Light

Using available light during the day can help cut down on your power spend, and can have the added psychological benefit of keeping your offices feeling like a fortress or dungeon. Installing UV-blocking tints or awnings can keep your interiors bright without heating indoor areas in the summertime, while areas with good southern exposure can take advantage of passive solar heat in colder weather so you’re not relying on indoor heat as much.

Maintain Your Space

We’ve been called in for HVAC repair only to find that there really wasn’t anything wrong with the system that a good cleaning wouldn’t fix. Keeping your system in good health with HVAC tuneups means better efficiency and lower power use.

But something else to keep in mind is that the condition of your building or suite will also make a significant difference in your utility bills. We mentioned an energy audit earlier, so now we’re going to suggest auditing your space, as well. Ensuring that your duct work isn’t leaking, that your building is well-insulated so it’s not letting the outside air in, that you’re using smart thermostats and energy-efficient lighting, and using motion-sensing lights in less-used areas like restrooms can all offset any costs incurred up front through longer-term savings.

Need help keeping your HVAC healthy and your energy spend under control? Ace Plumbing Heating and Air Conditioning gives our corporate and commercial clients the same personalized service we’ve offered Sacramento homeowners for generations. Get in touch today!