Energy saving measures: here is how you can act

4 minutes of reading
Enectiva team

Whether you want to save energy for your industrial park, for your offices or for your residential buildings, we’ve got you covered.

As displayed in our previous article, everybody can play its role in saving gas consumption, and energy as a whole. In a time of extreme crisis, climate change and war, every action matters. But it can be overwhelming and seem complicated. This is why we made a list of everything you can do, whatever your sector. You have an industrial complex and you want to cut gas usage, or generally costs? Or perhaps you have offices and wonder how the bill can be so expensive? Or maybe you have a house or residential buildings which are nothing else but thermal colanders? The following list of gas and energy saving measures is for you:

General energy saving measures:

  • Control your heating and cooling by reducing the difference between the outside and inside temperature. Decreasing your inside temperature by just 1°C can reduce your heating bill by 3% to 6%.
  • Invest in a programmable thermostat which will automatically regulate heating and cooling.
  • Check the temperature of your water, keeping it around 55°C is recommended. However, be aware of all the legionella policies beforehand.
  • Check all the pipe insulations, they too get older with time.
  • Replace your old windows and skylights. Using triple glass on your windows can help you reduce your heat loss by approximately 50 to 70%. Look up at the heat loss on your buildings’ envelopes and consider improvements.
  • Consider installation of any renewable energy source to provide greener energy and decrease your energy demand from the main grid.
  • Look into energy storage solutions, both short and long-term, to store energy produced from renewable sources.
  • Look for any potential of heat recovery from waste water (ex showers).

Energy saving measures for industrial buildings:

  • Demand an energy audit, or implement the ISO 50001 certification, and Enerfis can help you with that.
  • Check the temperature management in all the spaces. Every room has different requirements, make sure to avoid overheating.
  • Automation systems can automatically shut down specific parts of your heating system when windows or doors are open to avoid waste.
  • Avoid leaving doors and windows open too long when heating or cooling is on. Take it one step further with an automated solution timing and closing automatically to prevent unnecessary temperature loss.
  • For industries using a cooling system all year-round, we suggest implementing heat recovery solutions.
  • Check and optimise your equiterm curves to improve the efficiency of your heating systems.
  • As an addition to renewable energy sources, we recommend using heat pumps for water, which are becoming a popular solution to avoid gas consumption, but are not adapted for residential buildings.
  • No need to warm up unoccupied spaces, check your setback settings for lower temperatures.
  • Consider using cogeneration units in case you cannot cut entirely on gas.
  • Promote sustainability and energy saving measures in the entirety of the industrial facilities.

Energy saving measures for offices:

  • Demand an energy audit, or implement the ISO 50001 certification, and Enerfis can help you with that.
  • Cover bare floors with carpets because uninsulated floors can be the cause of 10 to 20% of energy loss. According to EDF, with the insulation of your apartment floor, you can expect a reduction of 4 to 5% of your energy costs, and up to 10% during cold winters. 
  • Automation systems can** automatically shut down specific parts of your heating system** when windows or doors are open to avoid waste.
  • Turn off heating and cooling when the office is empty.
  • Use night setbacks by setting up a lower temperature at night or at moments when you are not at home (aim for 18 or 19 degrees)
  • Promote sustainability and energy saving measures in the office.

Energy saving measures for residential buildings:

  • Cover bare floors with carpets because uninsulated floors can be the cause of 10 to 20% of energy loss. According to EDF, with the insulation of your apartment floor, you can expect a reduction of 4 to 5% of your energy costs, and up to 10% during cold winters. 
  • Turn off your heater when opening windows or install a thermostatic valve which will do this automatically. You can have a look at our article on thermostatic valves for more information on its benefits.
  • Remember to turn off heating and cooling when leaving for an extended period of time. 
  • Use night setbacks by setting up a lower temperature at night or at moments when you are not at home (aim for 18 or 19 degrees)
  • Clean out your heating system on a regular basis. Research from Enertek International shows that a dirty build-up in your heating system can increase your energy bills by up to 25%.
  • Check your interior temperature. We advise a maximum temperature of 22°C in your home when occupied, 18°C when unoccupied.
  • For new construction projects, follow passive standards recommendations.

We hope that our list of gas and energy saving measures will prove useful. For any further questions, do not hesitate to contact us, both for the audit or for the Enectiva software.