In a large commercial operation, margins may seem to be tighter than ever. If you're in charge of making a profit while running a warehouse operation or similar large structure, you need to be looking for areas to save money as often as possible. If you really want to cut down on the largest overhead costs, you need to look at your use of energy. While you've been racking your brains and think you've exhausted all your options, you may have overlooked one sizeable opportunity. What have you missed?
Getting to the Core of the Matter
There is no doubt that the cost of electricity is one of the largest items on your budget each month. It's highly likely that lighting represents the lion's share of that particular invoice, as well. You may try and encourage your employees to save by turning off lights when they're not in use, but this is not really a proactive way to handle the issue. You need to take the bull by the horns and schedule a lighting retrofit.
This type of operation will require a full analysis of your needs, with the aim of installing a far more efficient system throughout the property. You'll need to engage with a commercial electrician as well as a lighting designer, so that you can stop wasting so much money and become truly energy-efficient.
Why You're Missing out
Truth be told, the vast majority of electrical systems in older offices or warehouses are out of date. In addition to the obvious disadvantage here, this means that those properties will be unable to utilise the discounts and tariffs offered by the utility companies, many of which are fully automated.
Objectives
You will have two objectives when you conduct a full retrofit. Firstly, you will be decreasing the overall wattage and therefore amount of power that you use and secondly, you will be in full control of the timing.
Luminosity
The experts will start off by considering the number of overhead lighting units that you have and the type of bulbs that are contained within. They will be looking at the luminosity of each particular space, to determine if you have too many ballasts and lamps and are thus wasting energy. This is almost always the case with older building retrofits.
You Will Be in Control
Once you have the correct number of units and the right types of bulb, state-of-the-art control systems will be installed. These will allow you to very precisely control the amount of time that individual lights are switched on, without relying on people to activate or deactivate.
What about Outside?
Finally, the designer and electrician will give you advice about exterior signage and lighting, which may be an afterthought for many managers, but could be adding a sizeable amount to your electricity bill.
Making It Happen
Set the ball in motion by talking with an experienced commercial electrician as soon as possible.
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