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Case Study #1: The Hot Water Heater
Figure 1: Hot water heater energy consumption.
The Problem
Because SmartGreen monitors your energy on a circuit by circuit basis, we can see exactly how your energy is wasted. In this instance, the hot water heater is the energy culprit. We determined that a configuration error was causing the recirculation pump to run continuously in this commercial setting. In other words, it never turned off! The only way to discover the problem was by tracking the energy consumption on a circuit by circuit basis.
Data Gets Results
The chart (Figure 1) shows three levels of energy consumption. At the left you'll see the original level before the problem was detected. As a first step, SmartGreen added a timer to the water heater so that it turned off and on incrementally. This resulted in a drastic reduction of energy which is showed in the middle section of the graph. SmartGreen then recommended the use of pipe insulation, which reduced the energy consumption even more, which is shown on the right side of the graph.
Cost Effective
Not only was the energy usage cut by 75%, it was inexpensive to implement, costing less than $500 in materials with labor done in house. The yearly savings is projected at $700.
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Case Study #2: Heating and Air Conditioning Blower
The Problem
The client's bill seemed higher than it should have been on a square foot basis. What we could not see (or hear) was that the blowers on the heating and air conditioning units were running non-stop, wasting a considerable amount of power. Only after tracking energy consumption at their facility on a circuit by circuit basis did we find the problem.
Data Gets Results
After finding the problem we recommended that the client change their thermostat settings to turn off the blowers outside of business hours. This let the blowers run during the day to balance temperature and provide occupant comfort, but allowed them to shut off at night to provide a great deal of energy savings.
Cost Effective
The fix for the project was simple and easy: change the thermostat settings. But savings on a yearly basis was $920. This is the best kind of problem to find: the savings are real and the cost to repair the issue are very small. But without circuit monitoring, it would have been difficult to diagnose.
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Case Study #3: Soffit Lights
The Problem
The client was looking for a way to conserve energy and money at their facility. They were unaware of where their energy dollars were going. We were able to identify the exterior soffit lighting as a large user of power from dusk to dawn.
Data Gets Results
In order to save power and extend light bulb life, we recommend adding a timer to the photocell control. This allows the lights to turn on at dusk and turn off at midnight. They were able to save power without impacting their sites visibility during the early night time hours.
Cost Effective
The change on this project was adding a timer. Including the expenses from the electrician, the payback on the project was less than six months. Another benefit is savings in bulbs and labor to replace the 20 bulbs around the perimeter of the building.