Operate your business more efficiently with power saving tips below.
Heating, Cooling and Ventilation
About 7% of the power used in the average Saskatchewan business is for heating and air conditioning.
Incandescent lights produce much more heat than CFL or LED lights. This increase in heat can increase the load on your air conditioning unit in the summer and is a very expensive way to heat your business in the winter. Reduce your costs by switching to more efficient lighting.
- In Summer, keep your windows covered and doors closed during the day to keep cool air inside.
- Use an appropriate air conditioning unit. A larger unit does not necessarily cool the room better.
- Keep your filters clean and maintain your air conditioning unit in accordance with the manufacturer’s recommendations.
- In winter, set the thermostat in your workspace to 20 degrees Celsius during work hours and lower the temperature when the space is unoccupied. For every degree you lower during an 8 hour period, you can save up to 2% on your heating costs.
- Install a programmable thermostat to regulate the temperature during and after work hours.
- Consider a locking cover over the thermostat to prevent tampering.
- Keep your exterior and freight doors closed as much as possible, to retain heat inside the building.
- Open the window blinds and remove solar screens, blinds or awnings on south- and west-facing windows to help increase heat gain during the winter. Replace the solar screens in the summer.
- Add an insulation blanket to your electric water heater if it is in an unheated space.
- At a minimum, insulate the first metre of exposed pipes coming from the water heater.
- Doors and windows are the largest source of heat loss in a building.
- Reduce heat loss by sealing any cracks within walls and weather stripping all doors and windows.
Motor Efficiency
About 40% to 60% of the power used in the average Saskatchewan industrial business is for motors. Here are tips on how you can reduce power use for motors and refrigeration:
- Replace standard-efficiency motors with premium-efficiency motors and gain up to 8% in efficiency.
- Use adjustable speed drives in situations where you may not always need full power from the motor. Variable speed drive motors use about 50% of the power compared to those without variable speed drives.
- Set continuous use motors — such as those in elevators and escalators — to shut down or “sleep” after a certain period of inactivity or during unoccupied hours.
- Perform regular cleaning and maintenance on your motors.
- Tighten belts and pulleys to prevent slippage.
- Lubricate motors and drives regularly to reduce friction.
- Replace worn bearings.
- Motors in the commercial sector are often oversized for their loads, using more power than needed.
Food Service and Refrigeration
About 30% of the power used by the commercial sector is for refrigeration.
Most refrigeration systems have a useful life of 15 years. They become less efficient as they pass their useful life. Consider replacing older refrigeration systems with energy-efficient models.
- Completely load cooking equipment but be careful not to overload the equipment.
- Keep your evaporator coils clean and free of ice build-up with regular maintenance and defrosting.
- Keep your freezers full. They will retain the cold longer. This will cause them to cycle on less frequently.
- Install automatic door-closers and strip curtains on your walk-in freezers or coolers.
- Turn off your backup fryers and ovens during low production periods.
- Make sure your oven doors fit tightly by adjusting door latches and ensuring gaskets are in good condition.
- Purchase insulated cooking equipment. Insulation helps keep heat inside your equipment instead of in the room.
Office Equipment
About 22% of the power used in the average Saskatchewan office building is for office equipment. Using a multi-function printer/scan/fax machine, uses much less power than the separate machines combined. Find out more efficient ways of using power in your office building:
- Turn off your computers and other office equipment when you are not using them, especially overnight and on weekends. Save more than $30 per year, per computer by turning off your computers and monitors for 12 hours each day. Save even more by turning them off all weekend.
- Turning your computer on and off does not use any extra power or hurt its components.
- Laptops can use up to 80% less energy than desktop computers.
- Choose the smallest computer monitor that meets your needs. Larger monitors require more power.
- Choose ENERGY STAR® qualified office equipment. On average, they use 50% less power than conventional models.
- Turn off your printer when you are not printing.
- Reduce "phantom power" by unplugging chargers and devices when not in use (e.g. unplugging a phone charger when not in use).
- Use intelligent/smart power bars with timers to make controlling power easier and more efficient.
Lighting Efficiency
On average, lighting accounts for nearly 40% to 50% of a business’s power use. Find how you can increase your lighting efficiency below.
- Replace your incandescent bulbs with ENERGY STAR® qualified LED lights.
- Turn off any lights that are unnecessary during work hours. Turn off all lights after hours.
- Install automatic lighting controls to ensure that the lights are off when not in use.
- Use task or focused lighting instead of overhead lighting; light only areas that are needed at the time.
- Increase the output of your lights by regularly removing grease, dust and other dirt from bulbs, fixtures, lenses, lamps and reflective surfaces.
- Replace incandescent exit lights with ENERGY STAR® qualified LED exit lights.
