Tuning Up Your Air Conditioner for Summer
Summer in Minnesota is just around the corner. Now is a good time to think about making sure your air-conditioning system is as energy-efficient as possible, so you hopefully won’t rack up big cooling bills. (Of course, the best way to rein in A/C bills is to limit its use altogether, but we’ll save that for another post.) Before summer, it’s worth doing a little maintenance to ensure your business or home air-conditioning system is working properly. If you feel uncomfortable doing it yourself, there are plenty of professionals to help. But here are some basic steps: -- Take [...]
Twin Cities Among Top U.S. Cities With Energy Star Buildings
The Twin Cities may be cold much of the year. But it's hotbed for energy-efficient buildings. A new ranking put out by the Environmental Protection Agency's Energy Star program shows the Minneapolis-St. Paul area ranks 11th among U.S. cities with the most Energy Star-labeled buildings. The Energy Star programawards its labels to buildings and manufacturing plants that achieve a high level of energy performance and efficiency. (You can read more about the program's rating criteria here.) The Twin Cities had 89, producing an estimated $36.4 million in energy cost savings, according to [...]
New Solar Rebates Available to Minnesota Businesses
Tackled energy efficiency and now dream about putting solar panels on your business’s roof? Now may be a good opportunity to finally do it. The Minnesota Office of Energy Security yesterday announced a new program to provide rebates to small businesses that install solar electric systems. But you may want to act quickly: The rebates are available on a first-come, first-serve basis until available funds run out. The program will provide $3 million in solar rebates, thanks to federal economic stimulus funding provided to Minnesota through the American Recovery and Reinvestment [...]
New Funding Strategies Emerging for Energy Efficiency
Many businesses are eager to make energy upgrades and reduce their operating costs. They just don’t have access to the cash needed to do it. It’s a problem lawmakers both in Minnesota and nationwide are grappling with. As energy efficiency and conservation becomes a top national priority, so is finding innovative and easy ways to finance energy improvement projects. New legislation sponsored by Minnesota state representatives Jeremy Kalin and John Doll would allow businesses to finance their energy upgrades through their special assessments on their property tax bills. The idea – [...]
Spring Clean Your Way to Energy Savings
It’s the time of year when many people stash away winter gear and prep their businesses and homes for the warm summer months. It’s also a good opportunity to make sure a business or home is running as energy efficiently as possible. Here’s a checklist of ways to turn your spring cleaning into an energy-saving event: Redirect ceiling fans. Air conditioning often produces the highest electricity bill in a business or home, especially when it’s used consistently during the summer months. So a worthy goal is limiting your air conditioning use as much as possible. One way to avoid A/C [...]
Tax Incentives for Energy Upgrades to Businesses
With the April 15 tax deadline looming, you may be contemplating ways to reduce your tax bill for next year. One smart solution: Get Uncle Sam to pay you for cutting your energy use. Beyond the assortment of utility rebates, grants and low-cost loans available to businesses for energy upgrades, the federal government also offers tax incentives to businesses that substantially reduce their energy use. (Keep in mind that the value of the incentives vary. A “tax credit,” for instance, reduces your tax bill dollar for dollar, while a tax deduction lowers your taxable income before the tax [...]
5 Ways to Save Energy For Little or No Cost
Before you spend a lot of money upgrading equipment, make sure you’re not missing out on easy ways to save energy. Many energy-saving strategies cost little or nothing at all, require little time and can pay for themselves immediately or within a year or two. So what are the no-cost, low-cost energy-saving tactics you might not currently be doing? Here are five: 1. Unplug equipment at night or when unused for long periods. Electronics continue to draw power from the outlet even when they’re turned off. This so-called phantom energy can amount to 30% of a home energy bill. To [...]
Want to Save $40 in the Next 10 Minutes? Put Your Computer to Sleep.
Many people don’t take advantage of one of the quickest and cheapest (read: free!) energy-saving tactics around: Activating the power-management settings on their office or home computers. At the 2010 Energy Design Expo and Conference in Duluth last week, Scott Pigg of the Energy Center of Wisconsin presented findings of a new study he and other researchers conducted that sought energy-saving opportunities in the home. Researchers collected some data by electronically metering activity on about 35 home desktop computers. The study found that 35% of the desktops had long idle periods, 30% [...]
How to Save $100 a Year on a Vending Machine
Vending machines that chill foods and beverages can cost a business nearly $250 each per year on energy costs. A new program is helping Minnesota businesses and other organizations cut those costs in half. Minnesota’s Clean Energy Resource Teams (CERTs), in collaboration with Energy Smart and EnergyMisers LLC, just unveiled a new campaign aiming to place 200 VendingMiser sensors on cold-drink vending machines in the state. The VendingMiser Bulk-Buy Program will inform businesses, schools and local governments of the energy- and money-saving benefits of installing these devices and help [...]
Four Ways to Save Water (and Money)
You might not think of water as one of your biggest utility bills. Think again. Water usage is one of the largest utility costs some businesses such as a restaurants or health clubs incur. (It’s also a substantial cost for homeowners: The U.S. Department of Energy says that up to 25% of a home’s energy bill comes from the cost of heating water.) And remember, water usage generally gets paid for in three separate bills: Water utility bills, gas or electric bills (for the cost of heating it) and sewer bills. So reducing your water usage by, say, 30%, could produce nice savings on all [...]
About Us
Energy Smart is a program run through Minnesota Waste Wise, a non-profit affiliate of the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce. We help businesses and organizations get the resources and information they need to make energy upgrades. Our assistance is available to any business in Minnesota at no cost. Contact us at info@mnenergysmart.com or at 651-292-4652.
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