Commercial Energy Savings
Beaches Energy is committed to helping your business or organization implement cost-saving efficiencies through the lighting rebate and energy audit detailed below.
Commercial Lighting Rebate
Commercial Lighting can account for 40-60% of a business's energy costs. The energy saving lighting rebate is an incentive for installing energy efficient lighting to help reduce energy consumption. Learn more.
Commercial Energy Audit
Our Energy Analyst will survey your business to identify your energy consumption and suggest practical improvements for saving money.
More Energy Saving Tips for Businesses
Energy Saving Lighting Upgrades
Advancements in LED lighting technology allow lighting projects to show a return on investment in two to three years. Replacing lighting that was installed as recently as five years ago can offer considerable energy savings. Fixture design and layout are very important for optimizing the efficiency of a lighting system. In addition, motion sensors that turn off the lights when areas are unoccupied should be considered.
HVAC Improvements
High-efficiency heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems offer considerable energy savings over the lifetime of the equipment. Adding whole building control systems, coupled with variable speed fans and occupancy sensors can increase the efficiency of both existing and new equipment.
Office Equipment
ENERGY STAR-certified office equipment - from computers and monitors to printers and copiers - help to eliminate wasted energy. When not in use, these products can automatically enter a low-power mode. ENERGY STAR-certified products use 30 to 75 percent less electricity than standard equipment. Over the next five years, the EPA estimates that these products will save Americans almost $5 billion.
High-Efficiency Equipment
- Install automatic, programmable thermostats to control heating and cooling. Most offer flexible options that enable you to change settings for different days of the week, weekends and holidays.
- Install occupancy sensors in hallways, bathrooms, meeting rooms, kitchens, storage rooms and other areas where lights can be shut off for blocks of time.
- Install photocells in outdoor entryways and security lighting to automatically sense outdoor lighting levels that turn on and off automatically.
- Install energy saving lighting like light-emitting diode (LED) exit signs in place of incandescent signs. LED signs last up to 15 times longer and use much less energy.
- When changing interior lighting, use energy-efficient LEDs.
- If you lease equipment, insist on energy-efficient models to lower your operating costs.
Low Cost / No Cost Energy Savings Ideas for Businesses
- Take time to review energy usage and understand how your business consumes energy.
- Maintenance of energy-consuming equipment is critical to ensuring optimum energy efficiency. Many maintenance items do not require specialized training and can be done by you.
- Turn off lights, computers and other office equipment when they are not in use. Have a procedure to ensure these items are switched off overnight and on weekends. Consider installing reminder labels or motion sensors to turn off lights automatically.
- Lower your heater thermostat to the lowest comfortable setting while your business is occupied. Set the temperature back more when your business is unoccupied.
- In warmer months, raise your air conditioner thermostat to the highest comfortable setting. There should be at least five degrees Fahrenheit between heating and cooling set points.
- Set back or turn off heating or air conditioning a little while before the end of your operating hours. Remember to maintain some heating in winter to prevent pipes from freezing and in summer to maintain some cooling to prevent mold.
- Let the sunshine warm your office during colder months by opening drapes or blinds. Close them at night to retain heat.
- Remember to turn off outside safety and security lighting at the start of each day. Alternatively, you can install light sensors on your lighting system that will automatically turn lights on at dusk and off at dawn.
- Keep doors and windows closed to prevent heat loss during winter or loss of cool air in summer. However, you may wish to keep doors and windows open to provide ventilation, instead of using air conditioning in milder months.
- Check to be sure all automatic controls are set and operating correctly.
- Clean all filters in your heating and cooling system monthly.
- Check and regularly clean filters if you use exhaust fans.
- Caulk or weather-strip any drafty doors or windows.
- Remove unneeded light bulbs or use lower wattage bulbs.
- Replace incandescent light bulbs with screw-in energy efficient LEDs as appropriate.
- Lower your water heater thermostat to 120 degrees.
- Adjust outdoor lighting timer controls to accommodate daylight savings time changes, or install photocells to adjust automatically to changes in seasons.
- LED lighting technology has replacements for T12 lamps that eliminate the need for a ballast. Over the life of the LED lamp, your savings can be substantial.
- Regularly clean and maintain food refrigeration equipment where applicable. This includes cleaning the coils behind or under the refrigerator and the seals to the doors.