In an already fragile economic climate the latest figures regarding the rising cost of fuel couldn’t have come at a worse time for many UK families and businesses. With the winter months setting in, many people are exploring their options in terms of limiting usage, reducing wastage and ultimately saving money.
Latest figures report a 19.9% hike in energy bills since the same time last year, which together with price increases in other sectors such as retail, and food are putting significant pressure on bill payers. With no immediate reprieve on the horizon how can we look to improve the efficiency of our homes and buildings, and make the energy we use work harder.
Planning is crucial in devising a long-term energy saving solution, and the implementation of energy efficient building controls can achieve significant future savings for homes and businesses alike.” Joined-up” intelligent building controls can play an important role by constantly monitoring how much energy is used and where, and crucially determining what is truly required. Using KNX technology coupled with DALI lighting systems, Intecho can assign a selection of pre-sets to a building, and program it to use various strategies to maintain a desired environment in the most energy efficient way. This can work in either a home or commercial environment, with each system tailor-made to achieve the most effective and suitable results.
Perhaps the largest savings on lighting can be made within commercial buildings that experience variations in occupancy, such as libraries or multi-level car parks, as movement sensors can be set to activate lighting only when required. Buildings that have a more standard pattern of occupancy, such as office spaces, or experience constant occupancy such as hotels can benefit more from the automatic sustaining of a standardized environment. When building controls are linked up they effectively talk to each other, meaning that if the temperature rises above a desired level in a particular room the blinds can be tilted to limit direct sunlight, or a window opened, before the building’s air conditioning is activated. Lighting will only be activated if the ambient light falls below a certain intensity and heating only initialized in spaces that require it, are currently occupied, and firstly have any windows closed.
Using sensor techniques such as this, energy efficient controls take what they can from the natural environment before initializing energy consuming alternatives, thus drastically increasing energy efficiency. From the point of view of a business, this also reduces the monitoring of spaces by staff and helps with building maintenance as the KNX system will inform you if there is a problem, or even if a lamp needs changing. If your building requires a routine this can all be easily pre-set, and also, importantly, any element can be over-ridden if required.
All of the above also translate to residential settings. Using similar techniques to a commercial building, a home environment can be regulated by an intelligent control system that uses the most energy efficient methods possible. As well as assisting in energy efficiency and energy savings, intelligent controls also help to improve environments by maintaining ambient temperatures, remembering lighting preferences and increasing security with techniques such as closing curtains at dusk or altering lighting when the home is un-occupied.
We hope, as does the rest of the UK to see a reduction in the cost of fuel, but if you are interested in achieving the best in energy efficiency from your property both now and in the future, please contact Intecho and we will be happy to offer our advice.
