The retail industry is a very competitive market. Industry challenges notwithstanding energy consumption is high across the retail sector. How you manage your energy will depend on the typeof retail business which you operate.
Retailers primarily consume energy in three main categories of operations: stores, distribution centers, and transportation. Additionally, many sell high volumes
of energy-intensive products, such as electronics and appliances.
Energy Consumption in Retail Industry
For a non-food business the main energy consumption will be in lighting and HVAC (Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning). Retailers who sell food will use a lot of energy on refrigeration.
Understanding energy consumption in the retail sector
Lighting - Heating, Cooling and Ventilation
By targeting energy intensive areas such as lighting and heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems, stores and distribution centres will be able to yield the greatest energy savings and reduce excessive energy consumption.
In retail the need for merchandise that looks attractive, together with convenient facilities to make customers feel comfortable, requires that shops use a lot of lighting and have strong HVAC systems to maintain comfortable temperatures. A piece of merchandise that is not well lit will not be easy to sell, while customers who are cold will shorten their visits, being discouraged to stay longer and, therefore, they will buy less. However, if this energy usage is not consumed in a responsible manner it leads retailers to waste
resources and face astronomical bills for energy while harming the environment.
Refrigeration
Ultra-low temperature freezers (ULFs). A typical ULF can use up to 20 kWh of electricity per days as much as a small house! Replacing it with a more efficient unit could save up to 3,000 kWh per year.
Plug and Process Loads
PPLs are building loads that are unrelated to general lighting, heating, ventilation, cooling, and water heating. They typically do not provide comfort to the occupants.
What are typical retail energy benchmarks?
Knowing the average energy consumption of retail companies is difficult to know exactly without prior analysis. However, the most typical values are as follows:
How to make savings with Digren Energy
You can’t manage what you don’t understand. This concept applies even more so to energy management. Your first stop should be to get familiar with your energy bills – what tariff are you on, what is your bill made up of (standing charges, day rates, night rates, VAT etc), and how much are you using each billing period.
Once you understand your bills, the next step is to understand where that energy is being used and to identify opportunities to reduce this.
There are a number of ways to substantially reduce energy costs. These vary from no cost, to low cost to high capital expenditure projects.
However, The best way to maximise savings is to implement an energy plan specific to your facility and budget. A significant barrier to using energy efficiently is lack of awareness.
At Digren Energy we encourage you to develop a plan that follows and includes all the necessary steps to make your business energy efficient. We can do this through our various services.
We encourage you to contact us for a free quote or visit our services page and identify which service you may be interested in to reduce your energy costs.
