From the Executive Director

Juan A. Navejar Jr.

The summer months will be here real soon and tempts will begin to rise. Like all good business people, you are watching your pocketbooks, so cutting back on unnecessary energy consumption will be key to your savings. 
Let’s begin with cutting back of large equipment between the hours of 3 - 7 pm. While it may sound simple some businesses can achieve this. Turn off equipment not in use or after hours. Shutting down a computer or put them in sleep mode after 5 pm will show some significant savings on your bill.
Set the thermostat in your workspace to 78 degrees during work hours, and raise the setting to 82 degrees when the space is unoccupied. The energy savings can be significant - as much as 2 percent of your air conditioning costs for each one degree that you raise the thermostat. 
Use a programmable thermostat and make it easy to adjust the settings as well as regulate the temperature when you are closed to avoid unnecessary cooling costs. Consider a locking cover over the thermostat to avoid having employees change temperature settings.
Close window blinds to shade your rooms from direct sunlight.
Allow your workers to wear comfortable clothing during hot weather. It makes little sense to keep a room cold enough that workers must wear suits and coats.
To save energy, keep your exterior and freight doors closed as much as possible. Consumers frequently complain about retailers who run their air conditioning on high to keep their stores as cold as possible while leaving their doors wide open.
Keep your cooling and ventilation systems tuned. Maintain a regular filter replacement and cleaning schedule. Don't forget to check ducts and pipe insulation.
Install window film, solar screens or awning in south and west facing windows. Install ceiling fans - they make it feel at least four degrees cooler during the summer.  You will save money on your monthly utility bills and your employees will be more comfortable.
Many offices, stores or factories can easily reduce lighting without affecting productivity. Turn off as many unnecessary lights as possible. Use task lighting instead of overhead lighting, and light only those areas that are needed at the time. Providing the right lighting can save up to 15 percent on your lighting bill.
Again, make sure that equipment and lights are turned off after hours.
Replace old fluorescent lights with newer, more efficient models with electronic ballasts (such as retrofit T12 lights with magnetic ballasts to T8 lights and electronic ballasts).
Replace your high-use incandescent light bulbs with compact fluorescent lights. A compact fluorescent light uses 75 percent less electricity to produce the same amount of light as an incandescent bulb. The compact fluorescent will last about 10,000 hours as opposed to the 600 to 1,000 hour average life of an incandescent. By replacing a 100-watt incandescent with an equivalent 25-watt compact fluorescent, you can save more than $90 per bulb in electricity costs over the 10,000-hour lifetime of the compact fluorescent.
Make sure that bulbs, fixtures, lenses, lamps and reflective surfaces are cleaned regularly. By removing grease, dust and other dirt, you can increase the output of your lights.
Install automatic, occupancy sensor room-lighting controls to turn lights on or off depending on occupancy or time of day.
Change out incandescent or fluorescent exit signs with LED exit signs.
Turn off your computers and any other office equipment when you are not using them, especially overnight and weekends. This practice costs nothing and can potentially save as much as $44 per year, per computer, depending on what you pay per kilowatt-hour. “Smart” power strips are being marketed that sense the presence or absence of office workers and turn the attached equipment on and off accordingly.
Choose settings that automatically switch the computer monitor into sleep or “power-down” mode when it hasn’t been worked on for a preset amount of time. Shorten the delay time before your monitor automatically goes into sleep mode.
Consider having employees use lap top computers since they use up to 90 percent less energy than a standard computer.
If it works for your business, consider ink-jet printers which also use 90 percent less energy than laser printers.
These are just a few ideas that can help you this summer. If you are still looking to save on your electric bill come see us at the Chamber for more information on our Electric Coalition.