How weather affects your business energy usage.
All businesses will feel the effects of weather changes on their energy consumption. Some businesses are better able to manage the consequences of these weather changes. The full impact of weather on your business and energy usage is dependent on the type of business you operate. For example, hotels will face different challenges to commercial factories. But they, and all businesses, will still see changes to their energy performance throughout each of the seasons.
How does weather affect your business?
An obvious conclusion drawn between the impact of weather on energy output is temperature. How does your temperature affect energy consumption? Could your energy consumption be more efficient? Heating and cooling in buildings and industry now make up 32% of total UK carbon emissions – with the UK spending more than any othercountry from the 26 countries in the International Energy Agency. Some estimates indicate that UK businesses waste £1.6bn every year on energy inefficiency alone.
Such large energy inefficiencies are partly caused by inadequate responses to the changing weather conditions. Weather factors such as: strong winds, heavy rainfall, heatwaves, humidity, lightning and even darkness can change how much energy your business uses. On some occasions, a severe weather event can increase loads to such an extent that it causes damage to systems, resulting in no energy use at all.
The impact of weather on your business
1. Energy Consumption. Weather variation forces compensatory energy usage. For example, in the summer or in high heat, your HVAC works harder to maintain interior environmental control, manage humidity and filter air. Exerting your systems beyond its capacities could lead to costly repairs in the future!
2. Customers. Poor weather can keep customers away. Conversely, if your business or product is relevant to the weather at the time, the right weather conditions could attract more footfall at your door!
3. Business property. Wind, rain, lightning and floods can cause extensive damage to your building, sometimes breaking windows and doors or causing ceiling leaks. In addition to the costs of repairs, damaged facilities will affect energy use and efficiency.
How is your energy impacted by weather?
Inclement weather can lead to sudden surges in your energy use. You may need to use extra power if your heating and ventilation needs to maintain functional interior temperatures. In colder weather, your business might need to use portable space heaters to accompany your regular heating system. As efficient as these heaters might be, they can be quite costly to run. A portable heater can consume around 1,500 watts an hour. That’s more than a fridge and desktop computer combined.
Your business could suffer in extreme heat, too. High temperatures make air conditioning systems work harder and longer. It’s even worse if there’s humidity, as condensation collects on the coils of your air conditioner, making it run less efficiently and at a higher intensity. Knowing your HVAC systems’ capacities and monitoring their energy performance can make a significant difference in the long-term, lowering the chances of damage and reducing energy inefficiency.
Planning in advance of the weather
Ironically, the unpredictability of UK weather is precisely the reason businesses should establish a plan for changing weather conditions. Regulating and monitoring the most energy-intensive outputs on your premises could lead to significant cost savings on your energy bills. Analysis of energy performance of your systems over time could even identify when your systems are reaching capacity, allowing you to take early preventative action and save on costly repairs. Fortunately, effective energy monitoring technologies, such as ClearVUE’s ClearVUE. Lite, are already available and affordable to all businesses.
Using ClearVUE. Lite to help your business
ClearVUE. Lite is a powerful new Monitoring and Targeting system from Global Procurement Group’s ClearVUE technology lab designed to help businesses better manage their energy. Cloud-based and accessible remotely, ClearVUE. Lite is completely non-intrusive, requiring no expensive hardware, servicing or maintenance. ClearVUE. Lite is able to monitor your energy performance 100% online.
A simple, two-minute sign-up gives businesses the ability to view vital energy data for the past 14 months. ClearVUE. Lite can simplify millions of data points over 14 months to show you a condensed summary of your energy behaviour, potentially identifying costly patterns of energy inefficiencies. ClearVUE. Lite will give you early alerts and warnings when it recognises inefficiencies, allowing your business to take preventative action before it’s too late.
High on the agenda for all businesses post COVID-19 is the desire to build back better and move towards a sustainable, eco-friendly, low-carbon economy. With ClearVUE. Lite, you’ll be able to analyse many vital energy fundamentals, including kWh, kW, kVA, Power Factor, and Weather Adjusted Data. ClearVUE. Lite can help you see where energy has been wasted, allowing you to implement precise energy reduction strategies using ClearVUE. Lite’s consumption analytics.
ClearVUE. Lite is designed to help businesses target, monitor and minimise energy wastage to improve their carbon footprint. You can sign-up for as long as you like to ensure your business maximises its efficiency. It’s never been so rewarding to manage your energy. So, what are you wasting for?
Subscribe to ClearVUE. Lite today.
Visit: https://clearvuesystems.com/alpha-lite/
Rasheed Ahmed, 15 July 2020