What Does Energy Efficiency Mean in 2018?

In 2018, energy efficiency has become one of the top concerns for businesses in the U.S. and around the world for many reasons:
  • Energy efficiency saves you money on your energy bills.
  • More money saved means you have more capital to invest in new projects.
  • With LED technology, retrofitting your business with energy efficient lighting is that much easier.

You can start making your business more energy efficient in a few easy steps:

  • Determine where the highest energy usage areas are in your business.
  • Create systems that manage lighting so it’s only on when it’s needed.
  • Investing in LED technology.

How to Determine Energy Usage Level

Find out the wattage of the appliance you want to measure. Multiply the wattage by the amount of hours you use it each day. (Let’s say you use a 10 watt bulb for 10 hours a day. That’s 100 watts a day.) Divide that number by 1,000 to determine the kilowatt hours per day. (In our example, that would be 0.10 kWh.) Multiply that number by 30 to determine the kWh per month. (0.10 multiplied by 30 is 3) Now that you know you use 3 kWh per month with that bulb, you can multiply that by how much you pay per kWh on your energy bill to determine what it’s costing you every month.

Indoor Lighting Efficiency

  • Retrofit your existing light fixtures with LED technology.
  • Use daylighting techniques to harness the power of the sun and keep lights off where you can.
  • Design the color of your lighting around its location in the workplace. Use cool, white light in high-energy rooms where you need to brainstorm, and warm, yellow light in break rooms and places where employees can relax.
  • Implement smart lighting technology to set a schedule for your indoor lighting, making sure your lights are on only when you need them to be.
Outdoor Lighting Efficiency For outdoor lighting, there are many LED options available:
  • Retrofit your outdoor fixtures with new LED technology, which saves energy and lasts a long time.
  • Use smart lighting technology to set outdoor fixtures to only be on when necessary (such as at night or only when someone is walking through the area).
  • Follow International Dark-Sky Association standards, which means you should use lights that are fully shielded, low energy (such as LEDs), and are set to go on only when they’re needed.
  Visit www.ShineRetrofits.com for more tips and products to help you be an energy efficient and profitable business.