Are These Common Mistakes Costing You Money and Energy?

One of the prime reasons to own a business is to make money, if not the prime reason, right? So wouldn’t you want to know common mistakes you may be making that are wasting energy? Wasting energy in your Kansas buildings means throwing money out the window. Sometimes wasting electric energy isn’t obvious, but it exists and sure adds up. By simply addressing these mistakes your business might be making, you could save a lot of money annually. Remember, it all adds up.

Mistakes Causing You to Waste Electric Energy

We often observe businesses making these common mistakes all the time. Sometimes businesses aren’t aware they’re even making them. Other times they are, but the businesses don’t think the mistakes are enough of an issue to be significant. Over the course of a year though, the cost of the unnecessary energy consumption really compounds and increases your electric bill. It’s all about the bottom line, so whether you’re a small business or a tycoon, take the time to address these mistakes if you see them. You’ll notice a difference in the long term.

Common mistakes:

• Running your air conditioning too high. Many times employees will use space heaters under their desks to keep warm when the air conditioning is up too high. Or sometimes they’ll simply open doors or windows to compensate. In this situation, you get hit two ways––wasting electricity running your air too high (which will continue to run since the windows are now open, creating a vicious cycle) and spending money on running the space heaters.
• Leaving lights on in areas or rooms where no one is. This is the same waste of electricity as leaving the lights on at night when no one is there. A smart and relatively inexpensive solution is to install motion detectors that control the lights.
• Failing to use power strips throughout your office and building. Equipment uses energy even when it’s turned off. Power strips help to combat this energy vampiring, as it’s commonly called.
• Keeping equipment, such as computers and copiers, on during nights and weekends when no employees are there. Turning the equipment off when not in use and then back on when needed saves quite a bit of electricity.
• Failing to install and utilize programmable or WiFi thermostats. By programming your actual cooling needs, instead of leaving one temperature on the thermostat 24/7, you can turn your cooling down when employees leave for the night and the weekend. This saves both electric energy and costs.
• Refusing to install LEDs or CFLs for lighting. Utilizing outdated bulbs uses so much more electricity than the newer ones. One area where this is commonly overlooked is your building’s emergency or exit lights. Electrical costs can run up to $30 per light per year with the older bulbs. Bonus savings––the newer ones end up lasting longer, saving you money by needing to replace the bulbs less frequently.
• Keeping doors open and letting cooled air out. If your business utilizes bay doors or a docking area, you may be throwing money out the window. If your employees aren’t vigilantly opening and closing these doors only as needed because it’s inconvenient or they say it’s a waste of time, you’re losing cooling. These open doors will draw the cooled air from other areas in your building just to push it outdoors. Regardless of popular opinion at your business, you are losing energy and money keeping these doors open all day.

Though it may not seem as obvious as purchasing too much equipment and supplies that just sit there and aren’t used, energy inefficiency and waste eats away at your profits. Paying attention to wasted electricity isn’t only being a good steward of the world’s resources, it’s paying attention to your bottom line. Wasted electricity is wasted money. Talk to our B&C Mechanical experts today and find out if we can help you save money.

Request service online today. B & C Mechanical provides commercial repair, replacement, installation, and maintenance services to residents in Kansas and Missouri. From Olathe to Kansas City, Blue Springs to Raytown, we are the #1 HVAC company in the area. Visit our service area page for the list of communities we serve. We service residents in areas surrounding these towns as well. If you don’t see your town listed, call us at 913-681-0088 and find out what we can do for you.

B & C Mechanical is proud to offer commercial heating and cooling services to residents in Kansas and Missouri. In Kansas, our service ares include Olathe, Overland Park, Leawood, Lenexa, Prairie Village, Shawnee, Merriam, Mission, Kansas City, Roeland Park, and surrounding communities. In Missouri, our service areas include Blue Springs, Gladstone, Grandview, Independence, Lees Summit, Liberty, North Kansas City, Raytown, South Kansas City, and surrounding communities. Call us now at 913-681-0088 or request service online.