Let’s agree that the energy bills for a commercial venture, no matter what kind, a restaurant, a retail outlet, an office building, or warehouse, is very expensive and can really take a chunk out of your hard earned profits. And sometimes it can feel like you are just burning money when you see your energy costs going right out the roof!
But the good news is that there are quite a few ways that you can shave some money off those commercial heating bills without having to make all your employees wear three sweaters, mitts, and a toque to work. So here are a few tips for you to try out and lower your heating costs:
1. Ensure you have regularly scheduled maintenance on your boiler at least twice a year. Once a boiler gets dirt inside or it gets filled with dirt, the energy waste can be significant. You could lose up to 20% of the produced heat that could be easily saved with a proper upkeep of the unit.
2. Ensure you also have regularly scheduled maintenance of any commercial heating system. So just like with most things, if you take care of it on a regular basis, it will run more efficiently. You can ensure that your system is not wasting heat and therefore wasting money.
3. When you need to order heating oil for your unit, try to buy it in a larger quantity. If you can order more at one time and do it more infrequently you can generally get a discounted rate than if you order smaller amounts more frequently.
4. Insulate, insulate, insulate! This cannot be stressed enough. Insulation added to all your distribution pipes and the boiler can result in huge energy savings. By insulating, you are keeping the heat inside instead of just allowing the heat to escape and heat up areas that don’t require heating.
5. Keep your temperature of your commercial building space at a consistent level. Don’t allow people to turn the thermostat up and down. And keep the temperature at a very moderate level. And have it on a timer so when the offices or buildings are closed, the temperature is kept at a much cooler temperature – no point heating an empty space.
6. Keep all radiators clear at all times. Make sure there is no office equipment, desks, bookshelves, or other equipment interfering with the distribution of heat through the radiators. That can result in poor heat transfer and entice people to turn up the temperature even more.
7. Keep the doors and windows closed when the heat is on. If you have large commercial doors that have to been opened, keep the heat turned down lower in these areas or use smaller space heaters in designated areas so that you are not heating the whole area that will be affected by the cold air outside every time the door is opened.
So hopefully with some regular maintenance and some common sense practices put into place, you should be able to reduce your commercial heating costs over time. You will feel much better about what you are doing for the environment as well as what you are doing for your bottom line.