10 ways to save money on your energy bill
With the recent large increases in energy costs there is even more pressure than ever to reduce the use of energy with a company’s site. There are lots of things that can be done to reduce your energy spend and they obviously all vary in difficulty, up front cost and expected savings. Below are 10 proactive activities that businesses can carry out to reduce their energy usage:
Energy Audit: First, carry out an energy audit to identify where energy is being used inefficiently. This can be done by an internal team or an external consultant. The audit will reveal areas for improvement, like poorly insulated buildings, outdated machinery, inefficient lighting, or unoptimized HVAC systems.
Energy-Efficient Machinery: Upgrade to more energy-efficient machinery and equipment. This might involve an upfront investment but can lead to significant savings in the long term. In many cases, this includes updating older equipment to newer, more energy-efficient models.
Automated Control Systems: Install automated control systems to turn equipment off or place it in energy-saving modes when it's not in use. This could also include smart thermostats, which can more efficiently manage building temperature, or automated lighting systems that turn off lights when areas are unoccupied. The SIG control unit is able to both monitor and control a range of systems including lighting, cooling and heating systems.
Effective Maintenance: Regularly maintain equipment to ensure it's operating at peak efficiency. This includes things like regular servicing and promptly repairing any faulty equipment.
On-Site Renewable Energy: Consider generating some of your business’ energy needs on-site. This could be through solar panels, wind turbines, or other forms of renewable energy. While this requires an upfront investment, it can greatly reduce the factory's reliance on grid electricity, hence reducing the energy bill.
Understand and improve your power quality: It is not as well known as it should be but not all power that comes into a building is created equally. The voltage that the power is delivered at from the grid, the way the power is used and the way load is balanced across the three phases of electrical supply can all have huge impacts on how good you power quality is. The higher the power quality is the more of the actual power you are pulling form the grid you are able to effectively use to power your site. This is something that SIG has a long history of helping with and this journey all starts with getting the power quality data back from the site using a SIG insight and analysing it on the SIGsense platform. We can then assist in the next stages of improving that power quality; this can provide up to a 40% reduction in usage.
Waste Heat Recovery: Use waste heat recovery systems to capture and reuse waste heat from industrial processes. This heat can be used elsewhere in the factory, reducing the need for additional energy.
Training: Train staff to use equipment correctly and to switch off machines and lights when they're not in use. A culture of energy awareness can go a long way in reducing wastage.
Energy-Efficient Lighting: Switch to energy-efficient lighting, like LED bulbs. They use less energy and last longer than traditional incandescent bulbs.
Process Optimisation: Look at the entire manufacturing process to identify areas where energy use could be reduced. This might involve reducing waste, optimizing production schedules, or rearranging the layout of the factory to reduce energy use.
If you are interested in any of the above but still unsure where to start please do get in contact with us here and we will be happy to answer any questions you may have and start you out on your journey to lower energy usage.