In the race for better business efficiency, every penny saved counts. Today, one of the biggest expenses for any business is energy consumption. Your building’s HVAC system comprises a large part of your energy bill each month, so creating efficiency of operation and use can help you save money.
In this article, we explain how you can optimize your business’s heating and cooling and save on utility bills in the long term.
The Impact of HVAC on your Bottomline
Cooling costs make up about 15% of the energy a commercial building uses. Most US commercial buildings aren’t optimized, resulting in an estimated 30 percent of energy waste, according to the US Department of Energy. Improving HVAC operations and use can offer significant savings.
You can optimize your business’s heating and cooling operations in a few simple steps. You don’t have to complete each step in order or complete each step to start saving money. Tiering the changes works, too.
As your business implements more of the optimization techniques, you’ll further reduce your energy costs and make your workplace a more physically comfortable place to spend time.
How to Optimize your Cooling and Heating
Conduct an energy audit
Many utility companies offer free energy audits. Contact your local utility providers – electric and gas – to ascertain if they offer these audits.
Inspect the HVAC equipment
Have an HVAC professional inspect all equipment and ducts. This includes checking the condition and operation of air dampers, heating and cooling valves, air-side economizers, vents, etc. Ensure that the dampers open and close completely.
Properly seal ducts
Preventing duct leakage improves HVAC efficiency by about 20 percent. Seal leaking ducts with blown-in sealant, mastic, or foil tape, and wrap them in insulation.
Schedule regular professional HVAC maintenance
Twice per year or seasonally, an HVAC professional should conduct maintenance on the system. This helps prevent breakage due to system age or equipment faults. Typically, adhering to a regular maintenance schedule can reduce costs by about 40 percent. It adds to the efficiency of the system and catches developing problems before they cause a breakdown of the HVAC. This also saves you from emergency repair call fees. If you do not have a HVAC professional on hand, maybe you have moved buildings and are not aware of who is available where you are, you can search for them by going online and typing in what you are looking for. From this, you can find companies such as E&A Mechanical who will be able to assist you with what you need.
Install programmable thermostats
Installing a programmable thermostat, especially a smart thermostat, lets you set separate temperatures for different times of the day. You can keep the office cool or warm during the day when employees and clients use the office space, then automatically turn it off after 5 pm. Programming it to automatically turn back on in the morning results in less of a drain on the system, and comfort and convenience for employees and customers when they come into a cooled office.
Upgrade older components
Regardless of the care, you put into regular maintenance, eventually, you’ll need to replace the existing HVAC system. Rather than waiting for it to go bad, start shopping for a replacement while it still works well. Replace old systems or components with Energy Star products. This includes boilers and furnaces. Doing so adds to the reduction in energy costs by nearly 20 percent and you create a more sustainable business. Update a rooftop system with demand-controlled ventilation for performance improvements.
Improve building insulation
Reducing the workload of the HVAC by improving the building’s insulation. Consider using a higher R-value than the building code requires.
Install energy-efficient windows
Better windows instantly help increase comfort in the building because they eliminate drafts. This stops heat and cooling loss, too.
Use energy recovery ventilators
Installing an energy recovery ventilator lets your HVAC system recycle energy from your structure’s exhaust air and pretreat the outside air before bringing it into the building. Preconditioning the outside air makes less work for the HVAC unit. An energy recovery ventilator typically pays for itself after three years of use.
Create a Simple to Understand HVAC Guide
Your employees may not know how to properly adjust the HVAC system or which settings shouldn’t change. Creating a brief but comprehensive guide to using the HVAC as a part of an overall internal knowledge base for your company offers a simple way to ensure HVAC efficiency. The simple instructions can alleviate problems with thermostat settings or employees accidentally switching the unit off of energy-saving mode.
Choosing Your Starting Point
If you have little money available in the budget for upgrades, start with no-cost or low-cost items. Create a guide on how to use the HVAC system for your employees first. Then contact your utility provider for an energy audit. These two items cost nothing but can create improvements in use. The audit also serves as a to-do list for system improvements.
Starting a maintenance program and having a professional conduct their first maintenance visit won’t cost much, but a clean and re-calibrated system can save you money on your energy bills. Calculate the savings each month and redirect that money into an improvement fund.
Installing a programmable thermostat costs little. Typically, these devices cost less than $150. They can quickly pay you back for the investment though in reduced monthly bills.
Insulation upgrades also cost little but offer nearly immediate payback. Updating to energy-efficient windows can cost very little, especially if you tier the upgrades. You can nab high-quality windows for about $150 each. Update one wall of windows at a time. These two updates will both create a discernible change in your business’s energy bills.
You can easily optimize the performance of your HVAC system. You can tier the improvements to reduce the impact of the expenses. Get started today to create a more efficient business.