UNIZOOM » John Gerace

Energy Efficiency: Balancing Cost and Output

John Gerace, PhD, PE — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 10:03:31 +0000

Methods and techniques that reduce the energy level required to produce the same level of service from the energy. The term energy efficiency means achieving more results from the same effort. Sometimes, efficiency can be translated into dollars and cents. It is measurable in terms of watts of visible light, or units of heat or degrees or cooling required.

Energy production has taken the path of attempting to produce more energy from the same components, as evidenced by nuclear power plants. This concept is the opposite of efficiency. Efficiency in energy usage studies how to get more benefit from existing energy sources.

Any entity that uses energy, whether it is an automobile, light bulb or huge manufacturing complex can be a target for reducing the amount of energy that is required to operate the entity. Installing skylights instead of additional light fixtures is efficiency at work. Making automobiles that get more miles per gallon is another way to make better use of energy. Trapping the heat from manufacturing processes and using it for building heat is another example of being energy efficient.

Efficient use of available energy helps to address the problem of dwindling resources and sky rocketing costs. New oil fields may be found beneath the earth’s crust, but they are still a finite energy source. By creating a more efficient use for oil, the reserves will last longer.

Since the 1970s, more effort has been expended in making building codes more energy conscious. Individual efforts are helpful but are less certain to create efficiency in the uses of energy. Studies have found that up to 75 percent of the energy used in the United States today could be eliminated through simple measures that are not costly or burdensome.

A three-fold process for increasing energy efficiency places efficiency first, use of renewable resources second and new fossil power sources in third place. The benefits are not only in non renewable resource protection, but in the cost per unit of electrical power produced and delivered. Ultimately, efficiency in both cost and service should be the goal of a technologically advanced and energy conscious society.

Save Money On Your Company’s Energy Bill, visit Energy Edge Technologies site for strategies on saving a tremendous amount of capital on your Corporate Energy Bill or call 888-729-5722 Ext. 100.

Energy Efficiency and Your Own Efforts

John Gerace, PhD, PE — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 09:08:07 +0000

There are plenty of things you can do to demonstrate better energy efficiency. Everyone knows the big ones such as recycle and turn off the lights. But there are other small things that can really add up. They may seem odd or like slight inconveniences, but the small magnitude of the inconvenience will completely disappear once it becomes a part of your regular schedule.

The first thing is to unplug all chargers when you are done with them. Many people have their cell phone, camera, or MP3 chargers in the same spot, always ready to go for convenience purposes as we are all always rushing out the door. However, leaving something just simply plugged in can drain electricity and at the same time serves no purpose.

Another thing would be to car pool or take public transportation. These are likewise inconveniences to many people, especially on days when they are running late. However, sticking to a schedule like this may actually make you more punctual and aware of your time. It also can be much cheaper for you. Your car will last longer and your petrol bill will go way down.

You should also start recycling the little bits of plastic you may not even realize can be recycled. For example, many people just throw away the plastic trays from TV dinners. This is hugely impractical, since they can be easily rinsed out and recycled.

Many people throw away lots of little bits of paper like sticky notes, or bits of plastic, like from a candy wrapper. This plastic is merely going to sit in a land fill. Why not put it to good use? These things all add up, so we need to be smart about them. If everyone merely took a step back and looked at what they were really wasting–and knew the life of an object after it was thrown away–people would save so much more in terms of recycling and reusing

Save Money On Your Company’s Energy Bill, visit Energy Edge Technologies site for strategies on saving a tremendous amount of capital on your Corporate Energy Bill or call 888-729-5722 Ext. 100.

Options for Saving by Using Renewable Energy

John Gerace, PhD, PE — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 08:25:57 +0000

There are many different types of renewable energy that can be used in place of energy created by burning fossil fuels. Renewable energy is generated from geothermal heat, sunlight, tides, rain and wind. All of which will naturally replenish. Currently only about 20% of the worlds energy consumption uses natural energy sources.

One of the cleanest and most efficient types of renewable energy is wind power which is slowly gaining in popularity and usage. Wind power is seen more in Europe though many countries are building off shore wind farms. Only a light breeze is needed to generate power and the energy conversion is one of the most efficient of all renewable sources.

Renewable energy is not only being used in large scale production but many can be scaled down to use for small grid or even residential use. The best example of this would be solar power. Solar power takes the suns light and converts it to electricity using solar cells. Solar can easily supplement current electricity usage and some business and people are finding that they no longer pay an electricity bill after conversion to solar power.

Hydropower has been used for years via construction and operation of dams. Most people are familiar with Hoover Dam which is the largest hydropower station in the world. As water flows from a high spot to a low spot it gives off energy which can be transformed into different types of power such as electrical. You also can use hydropower without dams in rivers and oceans as long as there is a current or tide.

Biofuels are mainly based on bioalcohol or bioethanol. This fuel is produced from fermenting soy or sugar that comes from plants. This pure form can then be used instead of gasoline. Biodiesel is an oil made from animal fat, vegetable oils and recycled grease. Although these fuels when burned produce emissions, they are much cleaner than the traditional petrol.

So now that you know, consider how you can make changes and choices to take advantage of these alternatives.

Save Money On Your Company’s Energy Bill, visit Energy Edge Technologies site for strategies on saving a tremendous amount of capital on your Corporate Energy Bill or call 888-729-5722 Ext. 100.

Tips for a Lower Electric Bill

John Gerace, PhD, PE — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 09:41:32 +0000

When you are living on a budget and trying to cut costs, lowering your monthly bills is definitely one of the first things that comes to most of our minds. We try to figure out how we can spend less money on food, how we can cut transportation costs, and how we can make our utility bills lower.

Everyone would like to have a lower electric bill. Here are a few things you could do to try and cut down on the amount of electricity you use, and therefore make your bill more manageable.

Turn out your lights when you are not using them. Make sure that when you leave the house, you leave on the minimum number of lights necessary. You may need to leave on one or two for safety reasons, to make the house look occupied or to be able to see when you get home. But you do not need to leave all of the lights in the house on.

Set your computer to an energy-saving mode. All computers can be adjusted so that they go into sleep mode when they are not used for a certain amount of time. This will allow you to save energy without having to re-boot your computer each time you want to use it.

Unplug your cell-phone charger when it is not in use. Even if there is no phone attached, your charger is still using electricity if it is plugged in.

Install energy-saving light bulbs. They will help you to cut costs even when the lights are on.

If you have children, set limits on the number of electrical devices they may use at once. No one needs to have the television, the computer, and the radio all on at the same time.

These are a few of the ways that you can save energy and help lead your household toward a lower electric bill. This will contribute to your efforts to save money in all areas of your budget.

Save Money On Your Company’s Energy Bill, visit Energy Edge Technologies site for strategies on saving a tremendous amount of capital on your Corporate Energy Bill or call 888-729-5722 Ext. 100.

Top Tips for Energy Conservation At Home

John Gerace, PhD, PE — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 09:14:33 +0000

One of the hottest topics at the moment regards our impact on the environment. As such, we are all looking at ways to cut back on the amount of energy we use. As with many things, this energy conservation begins at home. Here is a selection of top tips to help you cut down accordingly.

Two of the biggest wastes of energy in the home are inefficient use of heating and cooling systems so, as a first step, ensure these are well maintained. Secondly, try notching your thermostats down a degree or two; you shouldn’t feel the impact too much physically but you sure will financially. Also ensure your air conditioning unit has good airflow, and any obstructions are removed.

Household appliances are also big users of energy, notably washers and dryers. Ideally, washing should be line dried in the fresh air. This obviously is a big saver, but also adds certain freshness. If the dryer does have to be used however, try and do loads so that one load goes in as soon as another finishes. This helps to retain heat in the dryer and saves energy.

Another appliance that eats up energy is the refrigerator. There are not too many people that clean the rear of their refrigerators all too often but, if this is done weekly or at least monthly, dust will be kept to a minimum and the refrigerator will operate much more efficiently. Also, the seal around the doors should be checked often to ensure there are no leaks wasting energy.

Ovens and stoves should also be well maintained; dust, grease and grime reduce efficiency and vary the cooking temperatures produced dramatically. It is also worth having a thermometer to use in an oven to get the exact temperature, as LED displays are not always accurate. A side benefit of the thermometer is that you will likely find that your food cooks better.

These are only a few basic steps to help get you started with home energy conservation. Once started, you are sure to find many other areas you can cut back on or make more efficient. Not only are you helping to do your small bit for society, but your bank balance will look a whole lot better too.

Save Money On Your Company’s Energy Bill, visit Energy Edge Technologies site for strategies on saving a tremendous amount of capital on your Corporate Energy Bill or call 888-729-5722 Ext. 100.

Options for Corporate Energy Efficiency

John Gerace, PhD, PE — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 08:47:30 +0000

There are several rankings and benchmarks for corporate energy efficiency and corporations can perform an energy audit to see where they can improve with their energy usage. Corporations should look into how many kilowatts they use per square foot and how much gas or BTUs are used per square foot. Each country will have average values and recommended values for being efficient.

If you are looking to improve your company’s energy usage you can look into the different products available as each vendor will have information about its products’ energy consumption. For example, glass companies will provide information on their products’ solar heat gain and U-value, and so on.

Many more corporations are creating positions that deal specifically with energy management and many times there is compensation or benefits for those corporations that have good energy performance. There are several different ways in which corporations can make changes to their energy usage and ultimately enjoy big energy savings.

You want to make sure that your building is properly maintained as this keeps it running as efficiently as possible. Small changes can actually cause big changes in energy consumption. One such example is not running the air conditioning at night if no one is in the building. Also you can go through a retro-commissioning process to get your building back to its original state.

Steam systems are frequently an issue with energy usage as they are not maintained well. Steam traps tend to be used to deal with condensation but these can easily become stuck open and transfer the steam back into the boiler. This wastes a lot of heat as the steam goes back into the system and does not heat the building. You need to make sure these are replaced regularly and maintained well.

You also want to optimize your HVAC systems and these can account for 20 percent or more of all energy used in a building. And lastly, you might want to look into thermal energy storage or heat recovery options.

Save Money On Your Company’s Energy Bill, visit Energy Edge Technologies site for strategies on saving a tremendous amount of capital on your Corporate Energy Bill or call 888-729-5722 Ext. 100.

UNIZOOM » John Gerace

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