7 Tips for Lowering Warehouse Energy Bills

While warehouses and production locations may seem like an afterthought when it comes to energy savings, they represent a big opportunity for increased revenue by implementing the latest energy saving techniques. By following just a few simple steps, you can increase your company’s ROI and decrease your carbon footprint in the process

1. Conduct regular energy efficiency assessments

The best way to lower warehouse energy bills is to keep tabs on how you utilize energy in the first place. A regular warehouse energy efficiency check will help regulate your company’s energy consumption throughout the year. The effort you put toward a thorough check on your industrial building will help boost ROI by preventing the loss of potentially hundreds of dollars in energy bills.

One of the best energy saving tips for businesses is to make sure you regularly conduct the following energy efficiency tests:

• Loading docks
• Industrial doors
• Industrial HVLS Fan ROI

2. Install insulated industrial doors

This is especially important if your warehouse requires insulated freezer and cooler doors. Doors with low cycle times are one of the fastest ways to increase air infiltration, leading to higher energy costs. Upgrading to high-speed insulated industrial doors will reduce the chances of warm air getting in and cool air escaping, saving you money in cooling costs.

3. Seal around trailers at dock doors

Different industrial locations require different loading dock sealing options. One of the best industrial energy saving products is a high quality loading dock seal. They work by creating a gasket-like seal around the top and side edges of the trailer when it pulls into the warehouse. This is great for temperature-controlled warehouses.

Failing to properly secure the loading dock door can cause air to leak through the gaps. When you use a high quality dock seal, the less outside air will get in the warehouse, and you won’t waste as much energy trying to keep internal temperatures steady.

4. Install HVLS Fans for Destratification

Stratified air can increase heating bills by as much as 26 percent, so utilizing a destratification fan is a great way to achieve energy efficient warehouse heating. When you have the heat running in the winter, a lot of that heat escapes to the ceiling, and therefore completely ineffective for keeping employees and products at a comfortable temperature. Installing a high quality high volume-low speed fan is a great way to regulate the flow of heated air throughout your warehouse.

HVLS fans work alongside your HVAC system to move that warm are back down to the ground, keeping the temperature consistent throughout your entire warehouse.

5. Section warehouse by temperature

When warehouse stock requires significantly different temperature storage for various products, it’s a good idea to keep cool storage spaces close to other cool storage, and to group warm storage together. This decreases the risk of temperature leakage from room to room.

Keeping products with similar storage needs close together prevents the risk of air leakage raising energy bills, because any air contamination will already be a similar temperature as the room it’s leaking into, keeping your heating and cooling bills low.

6. Update your lighting system

If you’re not already using fluorescent lighting in your warehouse, now’s a great time to start. One of the fastest ways to save up to 80 percent in energy costs is to replace traditional incandescent lights with fluorescent or LED lighting options. LED options use less energy, and they can also last up to 25 percent longer than your older, incandescent lights.

Not only does high quality lighting have a direct impact on energy costs, but they can also increase productivity from your employees. A well lit warehouse promotes a positive work environment, which has been shown to increase effort from employees. This leads to a higher overall ROI.

7. Utilize smart doors that monitor energy usage

For the ability to continuously monitor energy and door usage to make informed improvements and control costs, make your equipment smart with Smart Data & Analytics. More than just sensors, Smart Data & Analytics helps to streamline loading dock management, facility safety, energy practices and asset management. The platform solution provides an intuitive digital platform for monitoring equipment, capturing events and synchronizing vital information for the facility work force, office personnel and management- which ultimately leads to an increase in safety, productivity and moral.

Insightful energy analytics can be accessed on any approved device, keeping both real-time and trend information accessible and transparent to facilitate informed decision making on energy consumption. Ultimately, aiding to decrease negative affects on the environment and to your bottom-line.

From the loading dock to distribution, your warehouse facility should be designed to run as smoothly as possible. That includes the best energy efficiency on the market. To learn more about how to determine which energy saving products are right for your company, contact the representatives at Rite-Hite.

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