As this year’s summer season is beginning to be felt all over the country, the use of cooling appliances also tends to increase. This is a particularly unavoidable situation for businesses, as they must ensure the comfort of their employees and customers to sustain operations.
The summer heat drives consumption by up to 27% as cooling equipment is used longer and compressors work harder to maintain a comfortable temperature. As a result, the cost to operate is higher, which leads to increased electricity bills.
While business owners face this reality year after year, given the Philippine climate, Meralco Biz gives them the power to manage their consumption not just during the summer, but all year round.
Meralco Power Ideas
Meralco Biz, which provides end-to-end energy solutions for businesses with a power demand below 500kW, empowers its customers to make energy efficiency a way of life through Power Ideas. Through this program, Meralco Biz guides businesses in choosing, using, and maintaining appliances and equipment?. They also offer innovative technologies and solutions that can help them operate more efficiently.
For starters, the Energy Management Pyramid serves as a guide for business owners in managing their energy consumption. It involves initiatives that gradually increase in cost and complexity as the journey progresses.
Energy assessment. This first step provides an opportunity to evaluate how businesses use energy before identifying and implementing measures. Business owners are recommended to conduct an energy audit to help them understand their situation more completely and set priorities.
Energy conservation. Offering the best return on investment, this step largely entails behavioral and operational practices at no or minimal cost.
Energy efficiency. This third step will require businesses to invest on new or innovative technologies to reduce energy use.
Time of use management. For customers that have the option to shift a larger part of their energy-intensive operations to off-peak hours and during Sundays, they can avail of Meralco’s Peak / Off-Peak (POP) program. This alternative energy pricing scheme is designed to help businesses lower their total electricity expenses through rates based on peak and off-peak periods.
Renewable energy. This final step is to consider alternative sources of energy such as solar power to significantly reduce their electricity consumption.
Guided by the energy management pyramid, Meralco shares some energy conservation and efficiency measures that businesses can implement.
Energy Conservation Measures
1. Adjust the thermostat of cooling appliances. Set air conditioners at a level that doesn’t sacrifice the comfort of customers and staff. For every one-degree setback, businesses can save 5 to 8%. Meanwhile, adjusting the refrigerator’s temperature setting from high to mid can generate up to 49% in savings.
2. Ensure that your appliances and equipment are properly maintained. By doing so, business owners can avoid an unnecessary 30 to 40% additional energy cost. Appliances and equipment that are clean, unclogged, and running smoothly won’t require as much energy to operate and will have a longer lifespan, which will spare them from having to spend on a replacement sooner.
Energy Efficiency Measures
1. Match the capacity of cooling appliances with your requirements. Ensure that air conditioners match the room size and choose the right size of refrigerator or freezer for their business needs. This prevents compressors from working harder to reach the ideal temperature setting and thereby increasing the energy consumption.
| Office size (sq. m) | Aircon Capacity (HP) | No. of Units |
| 26 (for 5 persons) | 1.5 | 1 |
| 38 (for 8 persons) | 2.0 | 1 |
| 50 (for 10 persons) | 2.5 | 1 |
| 64 (for 13 persons) | 2.0 | 2 |
For refrigerators, experts recommend to only load it up to two-thirds or 70% of its capacity for optimal air circulation and to minimize potential spoilage. Overloading will increase consumption by 119%.
2. Shift to inverter technology. Upgrading to inverter-type air conditioners, chest freezers, and chillers can generate up to 66% savings.
3. Observe optimal positioning of air conditioners. For optimized cooling capacity, air conditioning units should be installed in the middle of the room’s length.
The ideal installation height from the floor is at least 3 to 4 feet for window-type units; at least 7 to 8 feet with a 15-cm air gap from the ceiling for split-type units; and at least 2.8 to 4 meters, depending on the manufacturer’s requirements, for cassette-type units.
4. Leverage on smart technology. Businesses can consider using smart devices such as motion sensor and photo sensor light bulbs in occasionally used areas or areas exposed to natural light to save up to 63%. Smart plugs may also be used to monitor their energy consumption and avoid phantom load.
When implementing energy management practices, it is important to cascade the plan to everyone and get the commitment of both the management and the employees. Resources and processes should also be in place to ensure success, and efforts should be documented for proper monitoring.
Empowering businesses with energy efficiency solutions
Through these Power Ideas, Meralco Biz continues to empower businesses to operate efficiently.
Joy P. Mendoza, AVP & Head of Meralco Biz, shared, “While energy efficiency practices in businesses should be done all year round, our partners can be more empowered during this summer season through our reliable and future-ready energy solutions that can support their requirements – whether that’s saving on costs, increasing productivity, promoting environmental sustainability, or all of them at the same time.”
For those interested to learn more energy efficiency solutions for their business, email biz@meralco.com.ph or call its business hotline at 16210 for a FREE Power Consult.
