Owners of commercial buildings incur high costs to ensure that all building occupants have energy for lighting or powering the different appliances that they use in their business activities. This energy cost eats into the possible profits that building owners would have retained at the end of each year. This article discusses some upgrades that you can consider so that you lower the cost of electricity for your commercial building.

Bring in Natural Light

You can lower the electric bill by renovating your building so that more natural light gets in. For instance, you can retrofit skylights so that less artificial lighting is needed during daylight hours. Large windows can also increase the amount of natural light that enters the building. The savings that you make from this measure alone will add up over time to the extent that the cost of installing the skylights or larger windows will be recovered from the energy savings that result.

Buy Certified Energy-Efficient Appliances

Audit all the appliances in your commercial building and upgrade to appliances that have been certified as being energy-efficient. Signs, such as the energy star, can help you to identify which equipment will give you the greatest level of energy efficiency in the building. The added advantage of upgrading to energy-efficient equipment is that you may even qualify for some rebates on those purchases.

Install Programmable or Wi-Fi Thermostats

Advanced thermostats are available that can enable you to set several temperature settings for the different days of the week. For instance, you can programme the HVAC to lower the cooling or heating settings when the building is unoccupied during the weekend. The same can be done for weekdays during night hours when the building is vacant. Such an upgrade will help you to realise significant energy savings since the HVAC system will use minimal energy during those periods when the building is not occupied. Wi-Fi functionality enables thermostat settings to be adjusted remotely.

Pay Attention to Landscaping

Yes, energy savings can also result from paying attention to the landscaping around your commercial building. For instance, tall trees may block direct sunlight from reaching the building. This can reduce how hard your HVAC system needs to work in order to keep the building cool during the hot months of the year. This reduced work can mean that less energy will be consumed by the HVAC system.

Invite a commercial electrician to audit the energy use in your commercial building. He or she will give you a comprehensive plan of how you can use the suggestions above, and other measures, to reduce the cost of providing electricity to your building.