In a previous post, we talked about the cost overruns in which we could incur trying to lower the price hiring our energy with a trading company. In this post, we would like to focus on raising consumer’s awareness about the importance to make the right decision when he renews, extends or replaces any system or subsystem or any element which contributes to the consumption of an installation.

SMEs struggle every day against all types of external and internal problems, subsisting in increasingly competitive and aggressive environments, where often the only element of concise comparison is the price. As energy costs have increased exponentially in recent years and is expected to continue to do so despite the steady trend of recent months, it has become one more element to consider. It is necessary that purchasing decisions take into account efficiency criteria when implementing corrective measures as well to obey technical needs, as extensions motivated by an expected production growth. If the businessman only wants to give priority to the “cost” of different offers during the purchase process over the energy consumption of those once implemented he will be mistaken, considering that when turning on the switch of what he has installed, he will have to pay the kWh consumption arising. Neither the installer responsible for the execution, nor the engineer who has designed the project, nor the manufacturer of the equipment that has sold him, will pay for him the increase in the invoice. Everyone has a different role and selection criteria should note that the above is met, but none of them will hold what we consume or pay afterwards per unit of production since only an adviser with engineering and technical advice capabilities can do this.

Applying efficiency criteria in any purchasing decision we will obtain clear advantages:

• Ensure the return on investment by reducing consumption in the case of renovations or improvement of facilities.
• We will have a clear forecast of energy consumption that allows us to compare between different alternatives.
• We will reduce maintenance costs since usually selected equipment based on efficiency criteria includes the entire set of items to install: equipment, design, control elements, etc. Increasing energy efficiency means increasing productivity.
• For every € invested we will recover a part in every kWh consumed. Therefore it is essential to apply efficiency criteria in investment over one year.

Energy efficiency is not a theoretical concept as many believe, it starts from the time when we have to undertake daily costs to upgrade facilities that use are deteriorating. The sooner we understand it, the sooner we will save energy.