About: Bonus Eventus

Did your last energy bill make you wince?

It’s the same story up and down the country, as energy bills double or even triple and everyone looks for ways to manage the price rise. Some change providers, some simply try to use less, and others are installing brand new systems to be more efficient. But we have a fourth option for you to consider – and it’s much more convenient and cost effective than the others.

Make sure your settings are correct.

Yes, it really is as simple as that to save money on your HVAC bills, and here’s why.

Why Set-Up Is Important

Heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems are by no means simple. They are actually quite complex, and they need to work together in harmony in order to perform properly and deliver energy-efficient heating and cooling for your business or home. This means you need to have them set up in the right way to provide you with the most energy-efficient heating and cooling for your space.

A great example of why set up is so important is actually a domestic thermostat, exactly like the one you have in your own home. Research has shown that setting your thermostat just one degree lower could save you around 10% of your heating bill. And if you’re one of those households that sets their thermostat at around 25°C, you could save even more by turning it down to the recommended 20°C. It’s a similar story in commercial buildings, with slight set-up changes being able to yield massive cost savings.

Set Up Mistakes That Could Be Costing You Money

There are a huge number of ways you can set up your HVAC system, and you can change these settings at any time. Most people will change their settings when the seasons change to compensate for the change in weather – but others will just leave the settings be, wasting money in the process. To give you an idea of what we mean, here are some of the most common set-up mistakes we see in both commercial and domestic HVAC systems:

Heat set wrong: The most basic of mistakes – your thermostat is set too low or too high. Your thermostat is critical for regulating the temperature within a space, over time, so if it’s not set correctly you could be heating an empty building and wasting energy, or leaving your tenants shivering.

Sensor not working properly: If your thermostat sensor is broken, isn’t performing properly or is miscalibrated, this means your HVAC systems could be running at the wrong times. In the worst-case scenario, your sensor would be reading the room temperatures as lower than they are, and running hot air through a building that didn’t need it, costing you a small fortune.

Timer not working properly: Again, since HVAC systems often work on a schedule, ensuring your timer is working and set correctly is important. This is what allows you to control how much energy you use by running the heating or cooling at optimum times, and not running it when not needed. If your timer isn’t set properly, you could be spending money on running it when you don’t need to.

The thermostat doesn’t work: Finally, your thermostat just flat out doesn’t work at all. It either isn’t connected properly, or it sends the wrong temperatures to the main system, which can lead to you using gas and electricity at the wrong times, or even 24/7, which will end in a very, very expensive bill.

And these are just a few of the more common set-up mistakes we see when we inspect HVAC systems. They might all seem small, but they can add up to a lot of money. When you’re running a block of flats and spending £10-15K a month on gas and electricity, you want to be sure you’re reducing that as much as possible.

With the right settings and regular maintenance, you can save around 10%, sometimes even 30-40% depending on the age and condition of your equipment, on your energy bills. That’s roughly between £1,500 and £6,000 a month in savings, all thanks to regular maintenance and settings checks! So if you don’t already have an inspection and maintenance plan in place for your HVAC systems, now’s the time to get set up!

Other Money-Saving Tips

Of course, with energy prices so high at the moment everyone is looking for ways to save money in any way possible. So as well as making sure your HVAC systems have been set up correctly, here are a few things you can do to reduce your bills for your heating, air conditioning and ventilation systems either at home or in a commercial property:

• Cleaning: Regularly cleaning your vents and replacing filters when they get dirty keeps your systems running efficiently and saves you money.
• Maintenance: Make sure you are regularly maintaining your HVAC units, to the manufacturer’s schedule as a minimum.
• Clear Vents: Ensure your HVAC vents are clear and not blocked so the system can easily draw air in or pump it out.
• Check For Draughts: Draughts andair leaks in windows or doors can cause warm or cool air to be wasted, adding up to a lot of energy loss.
• Window Dressings: Using blinds and curtains effectively during the summer can keep the heat out and reduce the need for air conditioning,

We know times are tough at the moment, but we hope that our tips can help you save some money as energy prices continue to soar. And if you would like one of our expert team to inspect your systems and advise on any changes you could make to save you money, just get in touch with the team today.

Air conditioning systems aren’t just machines. They are actually more like the human body. Each unit has its own set of systems, all dependant on one another and carefully in balance, and all need taking care of. If you avoid the dentist for years, eventually you’ll get a cavity and have to go for a long and expensive procedure – the same goes for your air conditioning! And if you’ve got air conditioning on a commercial level, then taking care of it is even more of a priority. So, here are a few facts about air conditioning maintenance, and why it should become a habit rather than an afterthought.

Being A Clean Freak Is Good!

A clean air conditioning system is a happy air conditioning system, and just like your tumble drier at home, it needs a clean out every now and then. But it’s about more than just keeping the mechanisms looking good. Commercial air conditioning systems cycle and clean a lot of air every day for your building, and the dirt they catch tends to build up in filters and pipes. Systems that are dirty are not as energy efficient as clean ones, resulting in a significant reduction in performance and climbing running costs. Not only will it cost you more money to run, but the dirt build up will also increase the stress on the mechanical parts in the system, making them work harder than they should and reducing their lifetime. To top all that off, not cleaning your system can risk a decline in air quality when ventilated and throw off the temperature regulations, resulting in wildly varying air temperatures. In short, if you want your air conditioner to run at its best and not need replacement parts as often, keep it clean!

Being Reactive Costs You Much More 

Despite assurances to the contrary, a lot of companies still operate in reactive mode when things go wrong with their air conditioning. This means that they only bother to maintain it when something goes drastically wrong, rather than scheduling regular cleanings and maintenance checks. The downside to being reactive is that a repair on a big failure, or just a full deep clean, can cost you far more than regularly scheduled check-ups. Not only does it cost you more in running costs (see the point above) but your system failing could result in a huge bill for a replacement. By scheduling regular air conditioning maintenance, you can catch and replace failing parts in a staggered way, before they cause problems, and prolong the life of your components.

How To Tell If Your Air Conditioning Needs A Tune Up

There are a few main warning signs to help you figure out when your air conditioning units need a little TLC.

Age: You’re not the only one who worries about getting older! We suggest replacing your unit every 15 years, as this is the average age of failure. So if you air conditioning system is getting to that age, make sure you are looking out for signs of failure, and planning a replacement strategy.

Rising Energy Bills: This is an easy way to test if your air conditioning system is starting to break down. Take this month’s energy bills, and compare them to last month. Then do the same with this year and last year. If you see a marked increase in the more recent bills, then there is something wrong.

Leaking Water: Finding puddles of water where they shouldn’t be isn’t always a sign of a leak in your roof. Sometimes it can point to a leaky air conditioning unit. This leaking is usually caused by a liquid backup, or the overflow of excess condensation. Either way, your first call should be to your air conditioning professional to get it fixed and prevent further problems.

Unpredictable Temperatures: If you’ve set your AC to 20 but you’re still sweating, odds are there is something wrong with your unit. This could be something as simple as a faulty thermostat, or it could just be a worn out system that’s struggling to cool the air as much as it should. So, if everyone is hot and bothered, get your units checked.

Strange Noises: Are strange noises ever a good sign? Well, they definitely aren’t good when it comes to your air conditioning! If you are hearing whistling noises that sounds like a ghoul is stuck in your pipes, creaking, clunking or any other kind of strange noise, this could be a sign of a bigger problem with your unit, and it definitely needs a check-up.

At Bonus Eventus Maintenance we work with companies of all shapes and sizes to instal and maintain air conditioning systems in their commercial properties. So, if you haven’t checked on your air conditioning unit in months, or just think yours needs a tune up, why not give us a call and arrange your free consultation? We can show you the best way to care for your air conditioner so that it becomes a long-term partner, and not just a nightmare fling.

If you’ve been watching the news recently (or at any point over the last few years), you probably know that the environment is one of the most important issues in the world right now. And the message being sent is very clear – everyone, no matter how big or small, rich or poor, can do something to improve the state of our environment. That includes your business! One of the big (yet simple) changes your business could make is to cut your carbon footprint, and businesses have been encouraged to do this as part of their sustainability efforts for some time. But how do you work out what your carbon footprint is in the first place, and what can you do to reduce it?

What Is A Carbon Footprint?

Put simply, a carbon footprint is the amount of carbon dioxide and other greenhouses gases (GHG) our business produces, both directly and indirectly, in order to build and operate a product or service, as well as running the business itself. Greenhouses gasses are the main aspect we look at when working out our carbon footprint, and these are the gasses that make the planet warmer by trapping heat in the atmosphere. They include:

• Carbon dioxide (CO2), which occurs when fossil fuels are burned, and accounts for the majority of emissions in the developed world.
• Methane of CH4, which mainly comes from agriculture, livestock and landfill.
• Nitrous Oxide (N2O), which is about 300 times more potent than CO2, but is produced in much smaller quantities by farming and refrigerants.
• Fluorinated gasses like hydrofluorocarbons or HFCs, which are used in air conditioning.
• Sulfur hexafluoride of SF4, which is very potent an often found in electrical engineering, production or insulation.

While these are the main offenders, there are all sorts of other greenhouse gasses your business may be producing, and these all need to be taken into account when working out your carbon footprint. And it might surprise you to know that the main culprit of CO2 production within businesses is often the buildings themselves, and the energy it takes to heat, cool and ventilate them.

Where Do I Start?

So, where you do start in working that out? Well, your carbon footprint needs to capture greenhouse gas emissions output form your business on an annual basis, so your first step will be collecting data from within your business. This will come from a few different places, including travel, logistics and operations. The essential information you will need to gather includes energy, gas and water details, along with business travel data.

This information will typically fall within 3 ‘scopes’ for the Greenhouse Gas Protocol, which are:

Scope 1: GHG emissions from fuel combustion, vehicles and fugitive emissions (like refrigerants or nitrogen fertilisation) that are directly within the organisation’s direct control.

Scope 2: GHG emissions related to the production of electricity, heat and team purchased by the organisation.

Scope 3: Other indirect GHG emissions that weren’t included in Scope 2, but are related to the businesses wider activities and come from GHG sources owned or controlled by others. This includes emissions related indirectly to the use of consumer goods associated with transport and waste treatment, along with the travel of employees and visitors and things like upstream raw material production.

It can take a lot of time to collect all the data you need from those sources, and many businesses need some support in doing this, particularly when you need to get data from third-party sources. But don’t worry – we can help you with all of that!

What Do I Do With The Data?

Next up you will need to select the appropriate emission factor for each emission source in order to calculate the tonnes of CO₂ emitted (tCO₂e). Make sure the data you use is for a consistent time period to get the best results here – so if you’re looking for annual numbers, all of your data should come from within the same time periods. This will give you consistent results and make it much easier to work out what you can cut back from where.

Once you have your data laid out, you will need to select a methodology for your footprint that is most relevant for your organisation and your ambitions. You can choose to conduct a basic footprint using a carbon calculator spreadsheet, or you can adopt an internationally recognised standard to work towards. The choice you make will depend on the data you’ve collected, as well as what you plan to do with the findings.

One of the ways you can do this is by looking at the heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems in your buildings. If you are still running gas boilers, or old, inefficient air conditioning, these could be contributing significantly to your carbon footprint. Luckily, they are easily dealt with. By installing heat pumps as an alternative, you can cut your carbon emissions by up to 90% – or more if you power them with solar panels. If you would like to know more, just get in touch with the team today for your free site review.