Furniture store teams up with t-mac to implement energy saving
Following six months of metering and monitoring of energy consumption in its Nuneaton store, Hammonds Furniture has implemented a control strategy covering lighting, heating and cooling equipment — supported by t-mac Technologies.
A t-mac system was initially installed to meter and monitor energy consumption, providing remote access to real-time energy data. Using online energy-analysis software, it was possible to identify energy inefficiencies and areas for improvement to reduce cost, consumption and carbon.
Lisa Wilkinson of t-mac explains, ‘It can be difficult for businesses themselves to spot where energy can be saved. Some practices within the workplace become habitual and therefore unrecognisable as areas needing change to save energy and money. We work with all our customers to provide a solution that is right for them, identifying where improvements can be made in energy efficiency.’
The new system will meter, monitor, manage and control Hammonds’ air conditioning and lighting, and also provide metering data from the mains supply.
Heating and cooling equipment was previously managed manually by staff for ‘comfort’ rather than necessity. This practice led to peaks of power usage ranging from 8 to 20 kW at any one time during the working day. Air conditioning was often set at 28 to 30°C, a temperature which, if reached, would certainly have been uncomfortable.
There is now a limit on internal temperature settings for the air conditioning, with linking to internal and external temperature to ensuring heating and cooling react automatically and are used consistently.
There are also plans to monitor the impact of an open-door policy, with a sensor at the front door indicating when it is propped open and a device to measure footfall to establish when an open-door policy is and is not necessary.
Lisa Wilkinson concludes, ‘We are confident that the changes we are implementing will help the store not only to reduce its carbon emissions by a significant amount but also to save a substantial amount of money.’
