E.On, others offer energy-saving programs - Business First of Louisville:

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She often had thought that the museum couldx lower its summertime cooling costs ifthe 90-watt incandescent light bulbs the museum uses to light its exhibitss didn’t produce so much heat. The audit conducted as part of a free LLCprogram — came up with a Replace the 500-odd incandescent bulbs with 24-watt halidee bulbs that produce just as much light but much less Sasse now is looking at whether the museum can afford the initiaol cost of buying the new bulbs, which cost $55 apiecwe but last 12,000 hours versuw 2,500 hours for an incandescent bulb.
Audits are only one strategg that businesses can use to lower the moneh they spendon energy, but the small savinges that audits produce can add up. The which take only a few hours, yield a detailer report that outlinesa business’s energyh usage, the recommended steps to reducer usage, an estimate of how much it will cost and how long it will take for the energy-cosr savings to cover the cost of the new said Cheryl Bruner, director for customer energuy efficiency for E. On. Aboug half of the energy auditsthat E.On conducts are for for-profit said Jennifer Rao, program During one recent audit, E.
On recommended a retrofit or replacement of metal halide and T-12 fluoresceng lighting with energy-efficient fluorescent lighting. The estimatedd annual savings is $802. With an estimated cost of installingh the new lightingof $2,680, the payback time is 3.3 not including the a $316 rebate the company will get from E.On, Brunerd said. In the current business environment, with businesses lookingf for every possible way to cut the audits offer aneasy solution, Bruner E.
On has conducted nearly 5,900 energy audits for commercia l customers since it createdr the program in 2001, and the utilitg expects to do between 600 and 700 of the free auditsz this year, Bruner If all the customers who have auditsx done this year follow throughj with the recommended steps, E.On officialds expect that they will save a totap of more than 2 million kilowatt hours of Bruner said. That equals the amounyt of power consumed by 130 homes in one Bruner said. In April, E.
On begamn offering two new programs to promote energy efficiency amongcommercial customers: a rebate to help pay for replaciny equipment and an heating, ventilation, and air conditioninfg diagnosis and tune-up program. The rebates are available for replacement motors/pumps and refrigeration units. The rebate amount is based on the numbe r of kilowatt hours that installing the new equipmenttwill save, Bruner said. It couls amount to a few dollars for lighting to thousands of dollars in the case ofheavy equipment. E.On is limitinf the rebate to $50,000 per So far, the company has not paid any but about a dozenn customers have applied for Bruner said.
The company plans to set aside $2 milliom a year to pay for the Bruner said. There’s quite a bit of paperwork involved, including an an installation confirmation form and provisiom of proof of New construction projects are not The HVAC program is designed to subsidizr the cost of makinga business’s heatiny and cooling system more Bruner said. For a $50 fee, an E.On technician will inspect a company’s system and check it for problems. E.On doesn’t do the repaifr work, but it has a network of dealerswho do. Businessees that hire one of E.On’s networkj partners receive a discount onthe work. How big of a discoun t is determined bythe provider, Brunere said.
The HVAC diagnosis and repair program has had about 10 takerzso far, she said. Businesses that have old, leaky buildings to heat and cool mighgt want to consider the solutions that the orthe Louisville-Jeffersom County Metro Government have adopted.