Ways to Save Energy at Your Business This Spring and Summer

Protecting your business from Orlando’s summer heat keeps both your customers and your employees happier. Taking steps to save energy while doing it will keep you happier by leaving more money in your pocket.

Reduce Your Cooling Load

Using compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) or light-emitting diodes (LEDs) not only saves electricity, but it also minimizes heat buildup in your rooms. Avoid unnecessarily bright lighting, which wastes energy, adds heat and causes eyestrain. If your employees tend to forget to switch off the lights in lesser used areas, install motion detectors that will switch the lights off automatically.

To keep out the sun’s heat, hang blinds or drapes that can be closed when the window receives direct sunlight. This is especially effective on west- and east-facing windows. For the sunniest windows, consider applying a reflective film.

Landscaping can help you save energy, too. To create cooling shade, plant trees or set up vine-covered trellises on the west side of your building where they’ll block the hot afternoon sun.

Cool Your Business Efficiently

Have the cooling system professionally inspected every year. Even if your system seems fine, an expert technician can improve its efficiency just by cleaning and tuning up the components. If your system is more than 10 years old, consider upgrading to a new, more efficient model. Older equipment is near the end of its life expectancy. And if you’re not using a programmable thermostat, install one now to make maintaining energy-saving temperatures easier.

Install ceiling fans and use them daily. The wind chill effect they create makes you feel around five degrees cooler, so you can raise the A/C temperature by a corresponding amount to save energy. Choose the optimal fan size for each room. Undersized fans don’t create enough of a breeze, while oversized fans create so much they’ll blow papers and other objects around. A 36-inch fan is enough for a 75 square-foot room, but a larger room needs a larger fan.

Need some help making your business more energy efficient? Contact us at Rinaldi’s Energy Solutions. We proudly serve the Orlando area.

Our goal is to help educate our customers in Orlando, Florida and surrounding areas about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems). For more information about energy savings and other HVAC topics, download our free Home Comfort Resource guide.

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