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February 5, 2010
Warm your tenants' hearts, and save some money, too
If you rent property to residential or business tenants, take note of a shift in the market: as awareness about green living and green business grows, tenants are increasingly putting energy efficiency on their must-have list for rental property.
They’re looking for low energy bills, and they value environmental responsibility.
By upgrading the machinery you use to heat and cool your rental property, you can deliver on both. At the same time, you’ll substantially decrease your own operational and maintenance costs. Depending on the technology you choose, you may also qualify for a BC Hydro incentive to reduce the up-front cost.
Here are just two of the latest technological breakthroughs you may want to consider when your current HVAC motors or pumps need to be replaced:
Premium-efficiency motors
Don't confuse these with "high-efficiency” or "energy-efficient" motors. A premium-efficiency motor [PDF, 386 Kb] is the most energy-efficient motor on the market today, which means it will significantly reduce the amount of energy that goes into waste heat rather than mechanical power. It will cost you more than a less-efficient motor, but it will also consume considerably less energy to do the same job.
According to the Office of Energy Efficiency of Natural Resources Canada, a standard-efficiency, 20-horsepower motor operating at 75% load would consume about 92,428 kilowatt hours of electricity per year, for an annual cost of $5,546. The same size premium-efficiency motor working at the same load would consume 90,145 kilowatt hours of electricity for a cost of $5,409. That’s a savings of 2,283 kilowatts, and $137 a year.
In addition, premium-efficiency motors are generally better made than lesser models. They are more reliable, last longer, have longer warranties, and they run both cooler and more quietly (another benefit for your tenants).
High-efficiency water circulation pumps
If you have a water heating system, consider a high-efficiency water circulation pump.
Unlike a conventional single-speed water circulation pump, a high-efficiency pump uses an electronically commutated motor (ECM) with a built-in variable frequency drive. The VFD will allow you to set the speed of the motor to ensure it runs only as fast as required.
For example, you could set the pump on your hot water supply or water heating system to run at less than 100% power at night, when the majority of your tenants need less services, and ramp up again in the morning to ensure maximum supply when your tenants need it most.
The ability to control the speed of your system will also help keep your equipment from wearing out as quickly as it would running at full power 24-hours-a-day, and reduce both your maintenance and replacement costs.
Concrete results
In a recent pilot project, BC Housing installed a 1.5 horsepower high-efficiency water circulation pump in the perimeter heating system of one of the two Rosewood Towers buildings it owns in Richmond. It left the other building’s pump unchanged.
After six months, the new pump had reduced electricity consumption by a whopping 76% compared to the old, single-speed pump in the other building, for a savings of 7,330 kilowatt hours of electricity per year and an estimated savings of $440 per year on electricity. (Note that a good portion of the savings was the result of not just a more energy-efficient system, but also of a “right-sized” system. It turns out that the building’s previous pump was over-sized—a common problem in many multi-unit residential buildings).
Want to find out more?
Email BC Hydro for more information about how you can make your building’s HVAC and other systems – including lighting – more efficient.
Check out the Product Incentive Program to find out how you can take advantage of great financial incentives for installing energy-efficient products [PDF, 43 Kb], including HVAC pumps ($115 per horsepower).
