Energy Savings for Small Businesses

First, think about how your business can conserve. Many actions you can take are low cost or even no-cost. After you tackle energy conservation, you may want to explore alternative power generation to supplement or replace traditional energy sources. These options often require an investment that may involve lender financing.

Many tips for conserving energy are available, in fact, have been given to us since we were children (Turn off the lights! Close the door! Shut off the TV when you’re not using it!). The trick with these tips is to USE them. Together, these small changes will make a big difference.

Here are ways a small business can start immediately to save on energy costs.

1. If your business uses an electric hot water heater separate from your heating system, outfit it with an insulating blanket and a timer, available at a local hardware store. Most water heaters are set too high, so first check the setting and change the temperature on the water heater to 110-120 degrees. If hot water is used mostly for hand washing, set the timer to come on an hour before employees arrive. Shut it off at noon (not closing time). Experiment with time settings to minimize the ON time while still meeting your business needs.

2. If you have oil heat, call your oil company’s service department to schedule a system tune up. Talk to the technician while s/he is working on it and ask them about ways to save on oil usage. These people are a wealth of information and advice. They can tell you if a new burner, rezoning, installing separate water heaters, and more, would benefit and what the savings might be. Many oil companies have extensive records on systems they have taken care of and can even tell you some of this information over the phone. Visit http://www.meoil.com/ for tips to save with oil heat.

3. Contact Efficiency Maine to schedule a free energy audit. These are focused on electrical usage; they are not comprehensive audits. However, many businesses realize significant benefits from these. Visit http://www.efficiencymaine.com/ and click on Business Program.

4. Install programmable thermostats. Rather than programming the “turn back” at closing time, experiment to see if you can turn the heat down earlier and still maintain employee and visitor comfort. Depending on the construction, the building may retain heat for a surprising amount of time before comfort levels are affected. Every additional minute that you can turn down the heat is a money saver.

5. If your business utilizes a manufacturing facility, you know that machinery operations, ventilation systems, compressed air, and warehouse lighting are a few examples of large energy users. You can contact Maine’s Manufacturing Extension Partnership (http://www.mainemep.org/) to investigate how its services identify ways to trim waste to save significant operating costs.

6. Make turning off the lights easy for everyone. Install occupancy sensors that shut off lighting when people aren’t in a room. Target storage rooms, conference rooms and common areas as well as offices.

7. Have a company-wide meeting to formulate an energy savings plan customized for your particular business and enlist the efforts of employees to implement and track specific areas of potential savings. Share progress reports companywide. Involving everyone will result in a comprehensive program that is “owned” by all, and will move a company’s energy savings efforts forward in a positive way.