An energy audit is a wise move before making any major investment in new equipment or just to cut costs and do your part to conserve dwindling energy resources. Audits can save money and, in many, cases can be done for free. An audit can be as simple as analyzing utility bills or looking at the efficiencies of specific equipment to potentially replace it with something newer, leaner and greener.
An audit will you enable to:
- Understand your pattern of energy use.
- Determine if you're running the most energy efficient equipment.
- Evaluate older equipment you're considering replacing. The results of an energy audit may be the final straw.
Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done
Talk to your power company
Believe it or not, many utility companies provide energy audits for free.
I recommend: Utilities such as the
Sacramento Municipal Utility District and
Duke Power offer free audits for their small-business customers. Check with your utility company.
Ask your Uncle
Some small manufacturing businesses qualify for a free audit from the U.S. Department of Energy.
I recommend: Check out the
Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy to see the requirements.The audits are conducted by teams from universities so your plant must be within 150 miles of one of the 26 participating schools.
Power down with software
Software can also help you keep track of and analyze utilities expenses.
I recommend: Energy Watchdog provides energy analysis software as does
BizEE's Energy Lens application.
Call in the pros
Energy consultants audit your business and provide advice on how to cut costs, including advice on buying and installing equipment.
I recommend: Firms such as
EMC can help you with an audit and provide guidance on the best ways to cut costs.
Tips & Tactics
Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide
- If you rent, your landlord also has an interest in having the plant run as efficiently as possible and may help pay for the audit and possibly even help with the cost of installing greener equipment.
- Check with your state about rebates. Some states, including California, offer rebates for installing energy-efficient equipment. An audit is the first step.
- If your plant consists of a small space (an office or shop) without complicated equipment such as freezers or machinery, you can perform a simple energy "audit" by analyzing your bills for spikes that may have been due to something as simple as leaving the thermostat up too high.
The official source of Conducting an Energy Audit is
the Energy Consultants page at Business.com
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