Ecmweb 7307 Thinkstockphotos 143082090
Ecmweb 7307 Thinkstockphotos 143082090
Ecmweb 7307 Thinkstockphotos 143082090
Ecmweb 7307 Thinkstockphotos 143082090
Ecmweb 7307 Thinkstockphotos 143082090

Easy Ways to Find Energy Leaks

April 8, 2015
Many issues can be easily detected through visual inspections and testing.

A comprehensive formal energy audit is usually a good idea. But why not get the “low-hanging fruit” before incurring the time and expense? There are many things you can spot easily enough. Consider these methods in your early attempts to save energy.

Visual inspections

• Look at lighting. It’s easy enough to identify old legacy luminaires. Replacing them with modern LED offerings can slash energy bills substantially. Add in the lighting controls your current system doesn’t have or upgrade the controls it does have, and the savings become even greater.

• Look at exterior doors. If you have metal doors, you have heat losses even if those are insulated. A modern fiberglass door is stronger than a steel door and its insulating value is often greater than that of the wall it’s installed in. Design the door system with proper seals, and the savings become even greater.

• Look for light. In one facility, the plant engineer noticed a 4-inch-wide gap in an exterior wall, extending from the floor to the 30-foot ceiling. This was a major source of airflow between the interior and the exterior. It was hidden from view of the main production area. The plant engineer found it only because he purposely walked down the outside walls looking for problems.

• Try to find your make-up air heat exchangers. If you don’t have them, your make-up air is adding significant load to your HVAC system.

• Thermographic analysis of motor systems. One reason for thermographic inspections of conductor connections is to identify high impedance ones and fix them before they fail. What if you have 100 connections with only a few degrees of loss across the connection? That adds up!

moodboard/Thinkstock

Testing

• Insulation leakage testing. These leaks can result in a ground fault, but they also are energy vampires.

• Power quality analysis. Correcting low power factor at major loads saves energy. Look also for voltage imbalance, wave form distortion, and other problems you can fix.

• Thermographic analysis of motor systems. The energy losses in motor systems can be staggering in magnitude. That’s because there are many areas of potential loss that can add up. Consider the common gearbox. If it’s converting enough motor energy to heat to produce a 10°F rise over ambient, this might seem acceptable. But in actual cases, changing the dirty gear oil (and replacing it with synthetic) dropped that temperature to only one degree over ambient. How many gear boxes do you have?

These are just some of the things you can do to find easy energy savings. And you’ll probably get impressive results by doing all of these things. But this is really only a start. Press on from there with a comprehensive formal energy audit.

About the Author

Mark Lamendola

Mark is an expert in maintenance management, having racked up an impressive track record during his time working in the field. He also has extensive knowledge of, and practical expertise with, the National Electrical Code (NEC). Through his consulting business, he provides articles and training materials on electrical topics, specializing in making difficult subjects easy to understand and focusing on the practical aspects of electrical work.

Prior to starting his own business, Mark served as the Technical Editor on EC&M for six years, worked three years in nuclear maintenance, six years as a contract project engineer/project manager, three years as a systems engineer, and three years in plant maintenance management.

Mark earned an AAS degree from Rock Valley College, a BSEET from Columbia Pacific University, and an MBA from Lake Erie College. He’s also completed several related certifications over the years and even was formerly licensed as a Master Electrician. He is a Senior Member of the IEEE and past Chairman of the Kansas City Chapters of both the IEEE and the IEEE Computer Society. Mark also served as the program director for, a board member of, and webmaster of, the Midwest Chapter of the 7x24 Exchange. He has also held memberships with the following organizations: NETA, NFPA, International Association of Webmasters, and Institute of Certified Professional Managers.

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