Energy Efficiency: How nature shows us the way forward
Many of the things we’re doing now, nature has been doing for years. Like solar power – the first solar panels in Sydney were the leaves of trees millions of years ago. Learning from nature is called biomimicry. Now, we’re learning from the behaviour of bees in the wild (so-called independent swarm logic) to control air-conditioning ‘switch-on’ times. Left to their own devices, air-conditioning units, headers and blowers will turn on according to thermostat control – that is, a lot of units will turn on...
read moreHow to reduce fridge running costs in Sydney
Energy efficiency is a favourite topic here at our solar powered warehouse in Marrickville, Sydney. You can do a number of things to reduce running costs of refrigerators*. Aside from replacing your refrigerator with the most energy efficient model, you can: Put things in at cold temperatures – limit the amount of warm food and drink placed in it, and use a chiller bag or esky/coleman to keep your groceries and drinks cool on the way home etc keeping upright/cabinet fridges full – reuse milk bottles, water containers, freezer...
read moreAuSES tour to Singleton & Liddell Power Station
Greenforce Energy staff travelled from Sydney to Hunter Valley solar installations with the local branch of the Australian Solar Energy Society (AuSES). Included in the tour were visits to Ausgrid’s utility scale grid connect solar generation plants and the solar thermal pre-heater at Macquarie Generation’s Liddell plant. Greenforce attended with the goal of inspecting the physical condition of the the arrays and support infrastructure. Now 13 years old, the Ausgrid plant features both poly-crystalline and amorphous panels in...
read moreAusgrid Solar workshops
Proactive electricity company Ausgrid maintains an active program promoting energy efficiency through their network of offices and via their website. By way of background, Ausgrid is the network operator that maintains the network of poles and wires in former EnergyAustralia areas. On October 16th, Ausgrid welcomed us to their Silverwater Energy Efficiency centre for the first of a series of solar seminars. Greenforce Energy sent participants to ensure we’re up to date with the latest Ausgrid news and information. Paul, Craig and team...
read moreSaving energy… with water. Intrigued?
Energy efficiency and water conservation are closely related. On a micro level, many household activities and industrial processes use heated water, so unless the water comes from solar power, then the water has required energy to heat it. Less water used, less water to heat. On a macro level, all water requires energy to bring it to your home or workplace: pumping, processing, energy to make dams and pipes, energy in the water distribution company maintenance vans. Put simply, conserving water conserves energy. Less energy, less cost, and...
read moreEnergy Efficiency – less is more
Something that often comes up in commercial energy assessments is the right use of space. Sometimes, daylight is available in one section of the shop or workshop, but for whatever reason (habit, inertia, previous crowded work areas) tasks requiring light are conducted in an area of the workshop that doesn’t feature natural light. Using natural light is a great energy efficiency measure, and one that typically improves employee morale. Has your workplace changed? Are sunny areas used for storage, whilst busy beavers work in dark corners?...
read moreSave on lighting costs with task lighting
Sometimes, Sydneysiders and business owners are looking for ways to cut energy costs without spending money on retrofits, even if the retrofits make financial sense. In this case, you are best to look at opportunities for cutting the amount of time bulk lighting is turned on. This is especially applicable in situations where a small part of a larger space is used for a long time, yet only requires lighting in the whole space for part of the time. Adjusting lighting to match the level of activity is called task lighting. Task lighting is an...
read moreHave a shop, restaurant or cafe ? Want energy savings?
Many shop fitouts from the 1990s and 2000s feature heavy smatterings of wasteful halogen downlights. This means you could be paying for unnecessarily high electricity bills every time you open your doors – even if there are no customers in the shop. Architects love them, shop designers love them – but they don’t pay the bills!! Known sometimes as low voltage, di-chroic or reflector lamps, these small but energy intensive lamps use 50 watts (50W) a lamp, plus transformer consumption (usually hidden in the ceiling). This...
read moreLED light bulb replacement
Greenforce Energy doesn’t yet sell LED lamps but we have been evaluating them – because whilst it is great to use Solar PV, the best solar installers are also efficient users of energy. We’ve been trialling LED downlights and LED compact lamp replacements – because LED lamps have the possibility of saving you half your lighting energy costs whilst helping the planet. The look is very similar to a standard compact fluorescent energy efficient light (12W-15W), and uses half the power (6 watts). The light is more appealing...
read moreSolar Panels for Sydney
Solar power systems continue to represent great value for Sydney-siders. Firstly, there’s the environmental return. Naturally, you’ll help to avoid the burning of coal in power stations, but you’ll also help to avoid new transformers and the unnecessary destruction of forests to build new transmission towers. Simply put, it is an investment in the future of your kids. Secondly, solar power provides a great hedge against rising electricity costs. As the price of electricity rises, your investment remains the same –...
read more