Save energy in cooler weather

As temperatures outside start to drop, these simple tips can help you save on energy costs and keep your business comfortable.

• Have your HVAC system serviced to ensure it’s working properly.
• Inspect heating ducts and seal any leaks.
• Check air filters throughout the building and change regularly during the heating season. Dirty or clogged filters reduce air flow, and increase energy use.
• Look for and seal air leaks around windows, doors, and where plumbing or ductwork runs through building walls or roofing to the outside.
• Use programmable thermostats to set the temperature to 68F during the day and to 55-60F after business hours.
• Install locking covers on your thermostats to prevent unauthorized setting changes.

For additional money-saving energy advice and information, register or log in to Pacific Power’s Business Solutions Toolkit at www.pacificpower.net/toolkit.

Got Firewood?

Great Northern Corporation needs firewood suppliers for the Energy Assistance Program for delivery to clients within your area or county wide.

Business license and references are required to become an established vendor for the program.

Call Brandy at GNC, 938-4115 ext. 20

Standards changing for fluorescent lighting

Changes to federal efficacy standards for fluorescent lamps and ballasts may help businesses considering fluorescent lighting upgrades decide to act sooner rather than later.

Efficacy is a measure of the amount of light delivered per watt of energy consumed (lumens/watt). New national efficacy standards for the manufacture of linear fluorescent lamps will become effective on July 14, 2012. Most types of T12 linear fluorescent lamps (and some T8 lamps) will not meet the new efficacy requirements and cannot be manufactured after this date.

Revised federal standards also require the use of electronic ballasts instead of magnetic ballasts for all new fixtures. These standards do not permit magnetic ballasts to be manufactured for sale as replacement ballasts as of October 1, 2010.

What changes mean

The new federal standards will limit the availability of replacement parts for T12 lighting systems as manufacturers cease production of most T12 lamps and magnetic ballasts. Upgrading to T8 or T5 lighting systems generates significant energy and cost savings, provides better quality light, and prepares facilities for the phase-out of most T12 lamps in 2012.

Pacific Power offers incentives for retrofitting T12 light fixtures to newer, more efficient premium T8 or T5 fluorescent technologies. These incentives help reduce project payback. Incentives for upgrades could change, and may not be available for standard T8 lighting systems once they become standard equipment.

Take advantage of current incentives

Pacific Power’s FinAnswer® Express program provides pre-calculated cash incentives when customers install high-efficiency lighting, HVAC and other equipment at their facilities.

This table gives some examples of incentives currently available for replacing T12 lights with more efficient T8 lighting technology.

Before starting a lighting upgrade or other energy efficiency project, customers should contact their account manager, inquire online at pacificpower.net/inquiry or call toll free at 1-800-222-4335

Spring’s here! Time for an air conditioning system check-up

Routine maintenance of air conditioning equipment helps prevent breakdowns and the repair costs associated with them. These cost-saving tips will help to extend the life of your air conditioning equipment and lower monthly cooling bills.

Maintenance

• Check air filters and air intake screens monthly and clean – or change filters – as needed.
• Design an inspection checklist and inspect the cooling system in the spring before the summer cooling season begins.
• Inspect heating and cooling coils and vacuum blowers on a regular basis.

Energy management

• Set thermostats at 78°F for summer cooling when your building is occupied. Adjust temperature by a few degrees higher after hours.
• Install ceiling fans wherever possible, since they can make occupants feel as much as four degrees cooler.
• Install window film, solar screens or awnings on south- and west-facing windows to reduce solar heat gain.
• Replace outdated air conditioning equipment with ENERGY STAR^® qualified products.

Many contractors offer service contracts to routinely inspect and service your air conditioning equipment once per year and provide emergency repairs. The Better Business Bureau suggests that before you sign a service contract, be sure that it lists what parts and services are provided. Also, compare coverage from several different contractors before selecting one.

You can receive cash incentives for air conditioning efficiency upgrades. Visit pacificpower.net/wattsmart for more information.

Source: Pacific Power and Tech Resources Inc.

Earth day, every day: energy-saving green tech

In addition to reducing costs for energy and waste disposal, and improving productivity, companies that embrace environmentally friendly information technology – also known as green IT – are often recognized as responsible community leaders.

Buying green

When purchasing IT equipment, focus on energy-efficient products and on reconfiguring equipment to reduce power consumption and waste while improving productivity:

• Replace CRT monitors with LCD monitors, which can save as much as 70 percent in related energy costs.
• Consider ENERGY STAR® and Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool (EPEAT) products. These products are tested and certified to be more energy efficient than standard equipment.
• Purchase multi-functional equipment rather than individual printers, fax machines, scanners and copiers.

Recycling, disposal

Green IT practices that encourage recycling and proper disposal contribute significantly to environmental sustainability and reduced operating costs.

• To learn more about recycling electronics, check the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s eCycling pages at www.epa.gov.
• When disposing of equipment it is important to protect sensitive data. Moreover, equipment disposal must be in compliance with government environmental regulations. Consider using a reputable IT asset disposal provider to manage the process.

Pacific Power’s online Business Solutions Toolkit has more energy-saving information and tools. For details, please visit pacificpower.net/toolkit.

Source: Pacific Power and Tech Resources Inc.

New technology makes energy savings easier

A variety of affordable energy-control devices are on the market today to help you manage energy use at your facility. Through strategic placement and coordinated use, you can reduce energy costs, improve indoor air quality, plus increase employee comfort levels and productivity.

Timers

Time controls manage heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems; lighting circuits; office equipment and other types of equipment. Timers can be used to replace any indoor wall switch and control indoor or outdoor electric loads up to 15 amps.

Lighting control panels

A compact, self-contained lighting controller provides flexible schedule control and override capabilities for four to eight lighting circuits.

Occupancy sensors

Occupancy sensors have become quite sophisticated, including multiple sensing technologies such as heat and sound sensing, in order to avoid false switching when occupants are working quietly.

Day lighting controls

Photocells are available in simple on-and-off and day lighting models, stepped light output reduction and continuous dimming models.

Programmable thermostats

The most sophisticated programmable thermostats control humidity and outdoor air ventilation, plus inform you when the air conditioning filters need to be changed. Some include demand management features that can be used to reduce energy use during peak-demand periods.

For details on available energy efficiency incentives, visit pacificpower.net/wattsmart

Renewable Energy: Grants and Assistance Programs

Developing a plan to save energy at your business

Source: Pacific Power and Tech Resources Inc.

Energy management plans can help your business significantly reduce energy expenditures. A comprehensive energy management plan draws together all components that directly and indirectly impact energy costs.

The focus of your energy management program should be to reduce energy consumption and procurement costs, creating energy savings that can be used to improve the reliability of the facility infrastructure systems. This, in turn, reduces deferred maintenance, improves the work environment and creates additional savings for future energy management initiatives.

Steps

• Take inventory—Identify the components at your facility that impact energy costs. Include all mechanical, electrical, and plumbing (MEP) systems within a facility, as well as the building envelope and other infrastructure components.
• Review the last three years of energy bills‑-Identify areas of highest energy use and trends that show increasing energy costs. Three years of bills are required to minimize the effects of an excessively hot summer or cold winter, for example.
• Account for building expansions and other infrastructure changes‑-These changes might include building additions, insulation upgrades, lighting upgrades, the addition of new load (such as would be the case with increased use of computers), employee hires or reductions, and so on. Determine if these changes can explain variations in energy bills.
• Consider planned expansions and other changes in future developments of the business‑-If your business has an energy management system (EMS), can it grow with these changes? If a new EMS is being considered, is it capable of meeting future business requirements?
• Put an effective maintenance plan into place‑-An EMS can quickly become ineffective when control valves, dampers, and sensors have failed.

For a sample plan, see “Developing a Master Plan for Energy Management” in the eLibrary section of Pacific Power’s free Business Solutions Toolkit at pacificpower.net/toolkit.

Free webinars help you save energy and money

Pacific Power is offering two free online seminars in October to help you manage energy costs at your business.

• “Getting the most from your Toolkit,” Thursday, Oct. 7, 10 a.m. – This one-hour webinar will demonstrate how to profit from the Ask an Expert service, industry-specific efficiency recommendations and other resources in Pacific Power’s free online Business Solutions Toolkit.
• “Developing a 2011 Energy Plan,” Thursday, Oct. 21, 10 a.m. – This one-hour webinar will detail steps you can follow to big energy savings in the coming year.

To register, please visit pacificpower.net/webinar or call 1-866-870-3419 toll free.

Save money and reduce carbon emissions

Redwood Community Action Agency (RCAA) offers FREE weatherization and minor home repair services for Income-Eligible households. RCAA’s goal is to help renters and homeowners control high home heating bills, lower their home energy usage and reduce carbon emissions. This Eureka based non-profit has expanded into Siskiyou County to address the needs of Incom-eligible households.

These services include: testing of all gas appliances for carbon monoxide and gas leaks attic, duct and floor insulation: new Energy Star rated refrigerators (must be pre-1993), weatherstripping and more.

To take advantage of this free program and see if you qualify call 530-926-4931 or stop by the office located 707 Pine Street in Mount Shasta from Monday to Friday between 8:30am and 5pm

Dollars for dishwashers

By Lynn Teuscher of Aiello-Goodrich-Teuscher

A few months ago, the federal government had a program called “Cash for Clunkers,” which gave rebates to the auto dealers for sales of energy efficient vehicles purchased by the consumers. Coming soon to consumers in late 2009 or early 2010 will be a federally-funded program run by each individual state to give rebates on purchases of “Energy Star” appliances; sort of a “Cash for Clunker Appliances” program.   The rebates will commonly range from $50 to $250 depending on the product being purchased.

The “Stimulus Bill” (American Recovery and Reinvestment Act) provided $300 million to states for consumer rebates on the following ENERGY STAR qualified appliances:

• Central air conditioners
• Heat pumps (air source and geothermal)
• Boilers
• Furnaces (oil and gas)
• Room air conditioners
• Clothes washers
• Dishwashers
• Refrigerators/freezers
• Water heaters

This appliance stimulus rebate is different than the recent “Cash for Clunker” vehicle program in that the federal government is not doing the paperwork for each consumer transaction, instead they have asked the individual states to run the program, and the federal government will fund it. Each state has been given the authority to decide which appliances and what level of efficiency of that category of appliances will be eligible for rebates. The states were required to submit their plans to the Federal Department of Energy by October 15, 2009 for review. The manufacturers of appliances are concerned that it will be very difficult for them to have their products ready for 50 different state strategies in the upcoming months.

Dollars for dishwashers and other appliances are coming soon, so keep in contact with your appliance dealer for further details.