With summer right around the corner, now’s the time to optimize your HVAC for efficient performance during peak heating and cooling season. Here are some simple steps you can take to get started today.
Schedule an Energy Audit
One of the simplest things you can do is schedule an energy audit with your utility company. Many companies even offer this service for free. An expert will take a look at your heating and cooling systems and evaluate them for potential energy efficiency upgrades. They may even offer rebate or financing programs to offset the cost of your upgrades, so you can start saving money right away.
Install an Economizer
An HVAC economizer is one of the simplest HVAC upgrades you can make. With an economizer, your air conditioning system can use cooler air outside of your building to control the climate inside your building. An economizer minimizes cooling costs by using ambient air to cool your building instead of mechanically cooling warm air by powering your system’s compressor.
That means you’ll only be paying to circulate air throughout your building without the additional load required to cool that air. Simply by installing an economizer, your business can save up to 30% on energy expenses.
Chemically Clean your Outdoor Condenser Coils
Another important pre-summer HVAC task to perform especially in New York City is the chemical cleaning of your outdoor condenser coils. This is a process in which specialty cleaning chemicals with emulsifiers and surfactants are applied by your HVAC technical with a power washer for the removal of grease and airborne particulates. Included with the specialty chemicals are corrosion inhibitors to prevent damage and deterioration to the metallic components of the coils. Dirty condenser coils, if not corrected as quickly as possible will result in excessively high electrical operating cost, considerable loss of capacity causing insufficient cooling.
Reduce Load Capacity
By upgrading your commercial building, you can reduce the load capacity of your HVAC system, thereby saving substantial money on energy costs. Load capacity describes the amount of heating and cooling your building requires. The more frequently your system runs, the higher the load capacity.
To reduce load capacity, you can:
Install Insulation
Proper insulation seals your building off from ambient air temperatures while improving indoor air quality. Insulating infrastructure such as roofs, walls, pipes, and ducts can ensure that your system is running as efficiently as possible and that air that is delivered only where it’s intended.
Install Energy-Efficient Windows
Just by installing storm windows, you can save up to 15% on annual building operating expenses. For larger buildings with more windows, larger businesses can reduce energy consumption by almost 50%. The savings offered by energy-efficient window upgrades are designed to offset your initial investment and eventually generate positive cash flow.
Install Energy-Efficient Lights
Older lighting systems tend to generate a lot of heat. When you upgrade to energy-efficient LED, your building will consume less electricity while reducing the heat levels that put additional strain on your HVAC equipment.
Install Window Film
Installing window film can reduce the amount of solar heat that enters through windows. Roughly a third of the average building’s cooling load is due to solar heat absorbed through windows. An effective window film solution can block up to 80% of that solar heat to start saving you money right away.
Just by taking a few simple steps, you can start minimizing operating expenses right away to save your business substantial money in the long run. The experts at React are here to help you accomplish just that. [Contact our team today] so we can help you get started.