Go-Green project

[RedApple]

As part of our Go-Green project in our company, We are expected to come up with an idea on how we can save on energy costs. The task given to me is to look for a company that offers an energy management solutions which focus on continuous monitoring. I would like to know if anybody here could recommend an energy company? Otherwise, we want to hear your unique ideas in relation to our project.

 

[Deleted member 226268]

What's the point of paying a company a lot of money
to monitor and manage your energy usage, in a futile effort
to save you money,

when all you have to do is stop using so much of the energy
that is costing you money.

Stop paying your electricity bills ..... That will fix it...

 

[Psl]

As part of our Go-Green project in our company, We are expected to come up with an idea on how we can save on energy costs. The task given to me is to look for a company that offers an energy management solutions which focus on continuous monitoring. I would like to know if anybody here could recommend an energy company? Otherwise, we want to hear your unique ideas in relation to our project.

Depends on what your company trade is?
On site generation, energy storage and a lot of other quick wins can be achieved. However, any energy company worth its salt will need to undertake an energy audit. You need to know what consumption profile is and what equipment is consuming how much.

 

[TLT Property Management]

do you put the energy waste the 3rd party company has on the business in consideration. Most of it is common sense and can be done by educating people. The biggest challenge would be the end user not complying with it and a lot of marketing bullshit that has very little merit. Goes for example for electric cars if you put all factors in consideration an electric is going to emit more co2 in the long run or the break even point is a decade.

 

[The Byre]

Goes for example for electric cars if you put all factors in consideration an electric is going to emit more co2 in the long run

Not just in the long run!

An efficient Diesel with a modern engine converts about 40% of the chemical energy into kinetic energy, i.e. forward motion. The theoretical efficiency of a Diesel engine is 54%.

Now lets put some electricity into an electric car and calculate the overall efficiency -

A power generator has to convert chemical energy into heat and heat into kinetic energy and then convert kinetic energy into electricity. For that reason, power stations are on average 35% efficient (much less for wind).

The grid loses 5% in transmission and another 5% in transforming down to 230V and getting that supply into the home, so it is 90% efficient.

Now we load that electricity into a Lithium-Ion battery (85% efficiency).

Now we take that energy and drive an electric motor (efficiencies vary, but typically 90% if we also use regenerative braking).

The batteries in an electric car weigh roughly one-fifth of the total weight, including driver. (The equivalent energy in Diesel is less than 7kg - so not worth calculating!) So the car is now just 80% efficient as a result of the weight of the batteries.

Multiply that lot out and you get an energy conversion path that is less than 20% efficient.

If our power generation is using fossil fuels such as gas or fuel-oil, an electric car uses twice as much fuel as a modern Diesel driven car.
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To the OP - turn the heating down, wear an extra pulli and insulate the building properly.

 

[an1]

Have you been looking for a reason to go green?

The truth is that everything single thing we do every day has an impact on the planet -- good or bad. The good news is that as an individual you have the power to control most of your choices and, therefore, the impact you create: from where you live to what you buy, eat, and use to light your home to where and how you vacation, to how you shop or vote, you can have global impact. For example, did you know that 25 percent of Western pharmaceuticals are derived from flora that come from the Amazon rainforest? And that less that one percent of these tropical trees and plants have been tested by scientists? These numbers suggest that we all have a large (and growing) personal stake in the health and vitality of places far and near. In addition to protecting biodiversity (and inspiring medicine), rainforests are also excellent carbon sinks. Bottom line: It benefits everyone on the planet to help keep our wild spaces alive and growing.

 

[Chris Ashdown]

Byre

How can you compare the whole electrical system with a brief touch on Diesel engines what about the costs of drilling the oil rig, the transporting the raw oil, the power used to refine the diesel and the cost of transporting to the diesel pump

You cannot just pick and chose what parts to compare you need to look at the whole

Diesel cars are dragging a heavy drive train around as well as a full tank of fuel (ever tried lifting 12 gallons of Diesel whilst Electric cars have much lighter drive trains

 

[The Byre]

ever tried lifting 12 gallons of Diesel

Yes, it's just 38kg.

Electric cars have much lighter drive trains

And the batteries - what do they weigh?

How can you compare the whole electrical system with a brief touch on Diesel engines what about the costs of drilling the oil rig, the transporting the raw oil, the power used to refine the diesel and the cost of transporting to the diesel pump

You cannot just pick and chose what parts to compare you need to look at the whole

How can you compare the Diesel engine with a brief touch on electric motors. What about the costs of drilling for oil, or digging out the coal, transporting the raw oil, or indeed the coal from somewhere like Brazil, the power used to refine the oil or process the coal for the power station and the cost of transporting all that energy via the grid, to the electric car.

You cannot just pick and chose what parts to compare you need to look at the whole!

 

[Chris Ashdown]

Exactly glad you understand you need to compare the full facts not just bits you chose

 

[Chris Ashdown]

To the OP the first think would be to get a smart meter to judge where and how your energy is spent, just turn on and off various items and measure there power costs / usage

Then get a heating expert to measure the heat loss on the building

And Finally does just accept the green credentials of things as many are made of big cons looks for facts

 

[DavidWH]

We spent the grand sum of £13.00 on a ceiling mounted PIR sensor.

Instead of having 16 4ft fluorescent tubes burning 8 hours a day, 5 days a week, if there's nobody in the room they turn off after 15mins, turn back on like you're god when you walk near the door.

We converted our spot lights in reception to LED, and fitted a PIR in there, again they're not burning all day long anymore.

I don't know how much we're saving on electricity but for £13.00 it was a no brainer.

We've got a Geo smart meter display, which tells us how much power we're using, and the rev meter graph let's us know when we're using a high consuming machine, so keep it's use to a minimum.

We're replacing all but 5 lights with LED tubes, so will be interesting to see how the next bill compares.

We're toying with insulating the roof of the unit to try and retain some of the warmth, but that'll likely be next year ATM.