/r/energyefficiency

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Energy Efficiency and all that jazz

/r/energyefficiency

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5

The Tennessee Valley Authority, the largest government utility in the U.S., lags behind the industry in energy efficiency, spending less than 2% of the national average on promoting efficiency measures, study shows. But TVA is looking to again expand its demand response and efficiency programs.

2 Comments
2023/03/29
11:54 UTC

5

Tennessee Valley Authority sets a goal of curbing growth in electricity demand by 40% through expanded energy efficiency measures and the federal utility plans to boost its demand response plan by another 1,000 megawatts to offset growing electricity demand from EVs and population growth.

0 Comments
2023/02/18
13:53 UTC

4

The city of Chattanooga has cut its energy use by 36% since 2013 as part of the Better Building Challenge. Building improvements, new waste processing methods and a solar farm reduce power consumption in 200 buildings and facilities.

0 Comments
2022/12/09
12:02 UTC

3

Are their utility rebates for efficiency upgrades in Europe or anywhere else besides US and Canada?

*there

0 Comments
2016/12/15
21:37 UTC

1

Energy-Efficiency/Sustainability Capital Improvement Firm - LED lighting questions answered

Hello - I'm not here to promote my company in any way (Conservapartners.com if you are interested), but rather answer any questions you may have if you are looking to introduce capital upgrades to your commercial/industrial/real estate portfolio.

It is our specialty - especially the inclusion of LED lighting in design. Feel free to ask about feasibility, where it makes sense, when it does not based on LED useful life, ROI and foot-candle requirements.

Thanks! and looking forward to helping the community in any way I can with my knowledge.

5 Comments
2015/09/23
23:14 UTC

3

Thoughts on solar powered roof vents?

I live in south Louisiana in an older home built in the 60s. Our attic is quite shallow and I had additional insulation blown in to help with heating and cooling, but it still gets pretty warm in the house in the afternoon. One thing that has concerned me is that our passive roof vents NEVER spin. I've had hvac and roofing guys look at it and they aren't sure what's going on with them. We have almost zero tree cover and all my neighbors passive vents are spinning all the time. I'm thinking of trying out solar powered roof vents because the passive vents I have are pretty new (as well as the roof) and I'm not sure what changing them out would accomplish. What do you guys think?

1 Comment
2015/06/24
23:54 UTC

3

How to save money on the electric bills?

I am looking for the ways to save energy and keep the bills a little bit more affordable. I would be great if you can share some tips.

2 Comments
2015/04/30
10:16 UTC

2

Anyone heard of Allana Buick and Bers

I was contacted by a recruiter on LinkedIn. He was representing this company Allana Buick & Bers. I am currently happily employed and was not actively looking for a job, but am willing to consider a move given the right circumstances. I was wondering if anybody has any insight into this company, what they do, what working there is like, or any general info about their operations. Good questions to ask them during my phone interview

1 Comment
2015/04/18
16:38 UTC

1

Energy Efficiency

Precision Pneumatics was founded in 1991, as a privately owned company. Since we have over 50 years experience, in the compressed air and pneumatics industry, we have been able to develop partnerships with the industries major suppliers, including Atlas Copco and FESTO. Precision Pneumatics gained a outstanding reputation through their quality and integrity, providing a much-needed service to our customers to fulfil modern industrial requirements.

The Engineering Employers Federation highlights energy affordability as facing one of the most critical issues for manufacturing today as they have noticed the rise in input costs being the biggest threat to growth and UK manufacturing. The recent dip in the wholesale energy prices will be a relief but as long term prices are estimated to rise, energy efficiency is not likely to be here to stay. At We take a holistic 4 step approach to energy efficiency because it affects the entire application. All parameters, from the planning stage through to operation, must be correct in order for a system or machine to be energy efficient.

At Fesco they take a 4 step approach to energy efficiency as it affects the whole application, All stages much be correct from the planning stage through the operation for the system or a machine to be successfully energy efficient. Step 1 : Incorrect sizing of products is one of the main causes of inefficiency in machines. Make the wrong decisions at this stage and you build excessive energy use into the machine forever. Yet it doesn’t have to be this way, better design choices can be made using intelligent and innovative sizing software. These tools are free to use and often deliver solutions that are lower in cost.

Step 2 : Energy efficiency doesn’t have to be difficult. We recently gathered a number of experts together and came up with 12 measures that are extremely easy and quick to implement. There are some great design ideas here and we made a short film to help you get started. Step 3 : Festo offers Energy Saving Services to users of compressed air that are designed to reduce energy consumption. Each area of the compressed air system can be investigated from generation, to use in specific applications. Festo offers four specific services for this:

  1. Compressed air supply analysis
  2. Consumption analysis
  3. Quality analysis
  4. Leakage detection

Step 4 :We’ve lost count of the number of companies that have had leak detection initiatives only to find that the same problems reappear six months later. In our experience, energy efficiency is an educational and logistical problem, not just a leak detection problem. The basis for sustainable improvements lies in the skills and knowledge of those working with the systems, plus their motivation and confidence to deal with the problem. How many of your engineers actually consider energy efficiency practices when dealing with routine maintenance tasks, how many walk past leaks but don’t understand the cost?

The first step in tackling this is to arrange a Managers Energy Efficiency Experience to raise awareness in your organisation. You will gain a better understanding of the current situation and you will be able to establish your actual energy saving needs in relation to air consumption and usage in your production areas.

View our website to read more about Precision Pneumatics and to view our products

1 Comment
2015/03/31
09:13 UTC

3

Thermostat lowering myths

I've been recently discussing with someone regarding the pros (and apparently cons) of lowing your thermostat in the winter to save energy. His position has been that if you allow the house to get colder, it takes a lot of energy to heat it back up again, and that the "break even" point is 8 hours, meaning that if you lower the thermostat by say 8 degrees for just 4 hours, and then at the end of the 4 hours return the thermostat back to where it was, that the furnace will actually use more energy than if you just left the thermostat where it was during that 4 hour period.

His argument is around his belief that all the "things" in the house get cooler, like the walls, tables, floors etc, and it takes a lot more energy to bring those things back up to room temperature than if you were just keeping it constant.

To me, this sounds like a totally faulty line of reasoning.

I tried researching a little and everything I could find debunked the idea that you should never turn down your thermostat, but I didn't find anything that specifically commented on this alleged "break even" point of X hours.

It seems to me that turning down your thermostat for any time would produce a savings in energy, whether that be 5 minutes or 16 hours.

Everything I've read about furnaces indicates that they should be at their highest efficiency when running for longer periods of time, not shorter. And if you have a 2 stage, they should be more efficient, not less, when running in the more powerful 2nd stage. So all of this seems to go against this thermostat myth.

Can anyone comment on this, or tell me if there is any reason to think that turning down your thermostat for a short period of time would actually not save energy, or even actually make you end up using more?

2 Comments
2015/03/07
06:40 UTC

2

Any one work for an esco/engineering consulting company?

Any redditors here work for an esco/engineering consulting company that are looking for entry level engineers?

I will be graduating this year with a BSc in Mechanical Engineering and have previous internship experience in energy efficiency / energy management. PM me if you have any leads.

Thanks

0 Comments
2015/02/09
23:59 UTC

2

Efficiency opportunities for induction hardening equipment?

Hi, I have a screw and fastener manufacturing plant that uses coils to induction harden the tips of the product. It heats up the ends of the fasteners to something like 1,400 degF in less than 6 inches of travel down the production line, at high product volume. It's impressive and cool to see.

Are there efficiency opportunities with this process? I don't know much about it, but in general, are there power quality issues, capacitance issues, load spikes, etc. etc? Is there a conversion from AC to DC with an associated loss?

Any guidance on these units would be helpful. I've never analyzed anything like them before. Thanks, everyone.

1 Comment
2015/02/03
02:31 UTC

2

What's the most energy efficient exterior door, and how do I quantify loss for a dutch door?

My house has an interior door between the garage and the house, and wooden doors from the 1950s for the side and rear entrances. The garage door is a candidate for "the most efficient door possible I don't care how ugly." For the side and rear door aesthetics are somewhat important.

For the side and rear doors, I really like the idea of dutch doors for the rear and side doors. I can use a cross breeze for cooling in the summer that way. However, an extra seam means an extra draft. Can I quantify that seem with calories lost, and eventually (approximate) dollars on my heating bill?

1 Comment
2015/01/29
21:47 UTC

4

Any Energy Auditors on this Sub?

Hey /r/energyefficiency I am a recent college graduate and I'm looking to get a start as an auditor. I wanted to try to reach out to the community for some advice.

  • Are there any energy auditors on this sub or people with auditing experience?
  • Any tips of the trade or interview advice?
  • How did you get your start as an auditor and what do you think of auditing as a profession?
  • Are there any subjects or things that I absolutely must know and have a confident understanding of?
  • Are there any certifications or organization memberships that I should pursue?

Any conversation would be welcome. Also, if you'd like to see any projects I've worked on, or even take a look at my resume, just send me a pm.

4 Comments
2015/01/13
15:16 UTC

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