It’s relatively obvious that by putting your air conditioner on a restricted hours schedule using a smart thermostat, you’re saving power and consequently cutting your electricity bill, and that by using your facility heating unit less, your heating fuel bill will be reduced.  However, integrating smart thermostats to conserve energy and better manage HVAC in your facilities has more benefits that aren’t as obvious, but are nonetheless incredibly impactful to your business’ bottom line.

Implementing smart thermostats that better manage both HVAC schedules and employee comfort have meaningful cost savings beyond the energy bill.  Here are three more hidden financial benefits to implementing smart HVAC management in your facilities:

1. Elongated equipment life.  When you run your units less, they last longer. Your air conditioning and heating units are generally tested for a certain ‘useful life’, which is rated as a number of lifetime operating hours or cycles.  Thus, equipment that runs longer and harder will tend to wear out sooner as parts break down and the number of intended lifetime cycles elapses.  It’s estimated that the increase to the useful life of your equipment is directly proportional to the decrease in its use; so, when you put in controls that reduce usage by 10%, you can count on having the unit 10% longer.
2. Reduced maintenance and repair cost. Similarly, equipment that runs less and better controlled requires less maintenance and fewer repairs.  With fewer running hours comes a lesser need to call the HVAC maintenance person.  One of the biggest issues with uncontrolled business thermostats is employees frequently changing them, causing equipment stress.  In some environments that run hot, like restaurant kitchens, unlocked thermostats are awfully tempting to employees, who will sometimes crank them as low as they can go.  This can cause your AC condenser to ice over, resulting in – you guessed it – a visit from the AC repair person.  Today’s HVAC controls will even provide you pro-active notifications when a unit is struggling to maintain a set point, allowing you to identify HVAC problems before they require costly repairs.   However, equipment that is never or rarely run is the exception to this rule, and may require pro-active maintenance due to lack of use.
3. Less disruption to employee productivity. The right smart thermostat will allow for quick and easy response to environmental changes and facility temperature fluctuations.  Studies show that employee productivity is substantially disrupted when heat or cold makes work environments uncomfortable.  As weather changes outside, your ability to react quickly and remotely to changes in the comfort of a site avoids unnecessary lost productivity from overheating and cooling – and prevents a lot of grumbling too!

Using centrally-controlled smart thermostats that respond to the changing conditions of your business, while keeping your HVAC units running only when needed will not only save energy, but other associated costs.  There are a lot of other ways that the right system can benefit your business.   Interested in hearing more about it?  Talk to us.