Stressing Energy Efficiency

Welcome!

We hope to provide weekly insights into our business and news about our passion: Renewable Energy.

For our first post we decided to write about energy efficiency. We believe energy efficiency is the single most important step toward creating better renewable energy systems. Energy efficiency is the ability to perform the same energy functions, but to do it in the most efficient manner. Energy efficiency can be accomplished through maintenance, design, and technology. It is slightly different from energy conservation, which is also important. For example, if a building needs to use a central AC unit to cool then installing a newer, more efficient, Energy Star approved central AC unit would be an efficiency measure. Turning the thermostat temperature up during cooling season would be a conservation measure.

Efficiency improvements can have staggering effects. According to Citizen Power, a public policy research, education and advocacy organization based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, if all central AC units in the United States are replaced with ones that are 20% to 30% more efficient that would save the amount of energy generated from approximately 46 300 MW power plants. That's incredible...That's efficiency.

At BEC Solar, our focus and main goal for our business has centered around building efficiency measures for our customers. It is why we named this business Building Energy Controls, LLC. Implementing energy efficient measures should be first and foremost.

We help our customers analyze their current energy use and help them by suggesting improvements. Improving efficiency first will significantly improve the performance and return on investment potential of any renewable energy installation. In homes and businesses efficiency can be improved by taking weatherization measures, upgrading lighting, and upgrading to Energy Star approved appliances.

We've found that the group Citizen Power has some compelling information about the stunning impacts of efficiency improvements. Here are a few of our favorites and most pertinent to what we recommend to our customers:

• If you replaced your 75-watt incandescent lightbulb with a 20-watt compact fluorescent, you'd get the same amount of light but save 1,300 pounds of CO2 and $55.

• Using an automatic thermostat to save energy when you are away from home

• Saving even a conservative 1 kW per new home and 10 kW per new commercial building means that in 2020, we can avoid another 100 300-MW powerplants.

• If each household in the U.S. replaced four 100-watt bulbs with compact fluorescents, we would save the energy output of 30 300-MW powerplants.

Efficiency first is also key in new building construction. Designing the new building to incorporate passive solar, solar thermal, solar electricity, and geothermal systems is key. Designing them in a way to utilize these systems to their fullest potential and most efficient manner is vital and the proper placement of these systems is critical to their operational efficiency.

For example, the central air-conditioning compressor for the building should be located on the shady side of the building to minimize how hard it would have to work in the full sun. Studies show that shading a compressor can shave 1% to 2% off cooling costs. It is also critical to efficiency to make sure that there is proper air flow over the compressor's coils, so placement away from fences, shrubs, and anything else that might block airflow should be at least two feet away.

Taking simple steps like:

• Opening drapes and curtains on sunny winter days to take advantage of the sun’s heating power, and then, closing all drapes, blinds or shades at night in the winter to make use of their insulating properties.

• Installing ceiling fans can save energy in both the summer and the winter. In the summer, fan blades should revolve in a counterclockwise direction. In winter months, set your fan at its slowest speed and reverse it in order to push warm air down.

• Fill empty spaces in your refrigerator and freezer with water jugs. You’ll save energy and money because it takes more energy to run an empty refrigerator and freezer than a full one.

The above are just a few considerations and steps to take when incorporating energy efficiency.

We'd love to have feedback on this, our first blog post, and ideas for future posts. Thanks for reading!