Reducing Energy Costs at Hotels and Leisure Complexes
Energy costs are a major element in the profitability of hotels and leisure
facilities, yet the majority of businesses fail to address this important factor.
This article will give an overview of the opportunities to increase profitability by
reducing energy costs. Taking measures to reduce your energy consumption
will add to your “green credentials”. As well as explaining some of the more
simple actions you can take to improve your existing situation, the case for
alternative energy sources such as biomass boilers and solar systems will be
discussed.
Change Energy Supplier! This surprisingly simple choice is one which many
overlook. Indeed, about 80% of businesses are paying too much for their
electricity and gas. By changing to a broker who specialises in the commercial
sector, such as Utilitrack, it will be possible to make significant savings without
any capital outlay. You won’t reduce your energy consumption, but you will
pay less for what you use.
Improve Heating Controls There are various boiler optimisation products on
the market, and it is sometimes difficult to distinguish between snake oil and
genuine products. Examples of three of the better systems on the market,
which are more appropriate to the smaller hotel, are zone control, the
intelligent boiler thermostat, and weather-predictive control.
a) Zone control. A good example of this would be a typical pub/restaurant
which also provides accommodation. The public areas need to be heated for
most of the day, however the accommodation area is unoccupied after the
guests have departed, and will remain so until the guests return in the evening.
It therefore makes sense to control the public areas and accommodation areas
on a separate basis, switching off the heat to the accommodation areas during
the middle of the day. It is also important that each bedroom has its own
properly functioning thermostatic control, so that the guest may set the level
of heat to suit their own comfort – rather than opening the window and letting
wasting the heat you have paid for. Equally important is to remember that if a
room is known not to be booked to turn off (or at least reduce) the heating in
that room.
b) Intelligent boiler thermostat: It is important to understand that a hot water
boiler is inefficient when it is constantly cycling on and off. An intelligent
thermostat will collect data of these cycles over a period of time, and make its
own intelligent fine-tuning to the boiler control. This will reduce the number of
stops and starts, in turn achieving better use of fuel.
c) Weather-predictive heating control. For smaller premises such as a guest
house, where rooms are unoccupied during the day, it is sound practice to
switch off their heating until they are expected to be once again occupied. The
most simple way of doing this is using a timer. However, the outside weather
will influence the time that the heating needs to be switched on in order to
pre-heat the room. This is largely due to the fact that the outside temperature
will influence the rate at which heat is lost during the day. Systems are now
available which use weather forecasting to adjust their switch-on time. So on a
day which is predicted to be warmer than normal, the time at which the
heating is turned on is delayed, and similarly on a day which is predicted to be
cold, the heating is turned on earlier.
Replace the burner on your boiler. This is more applicable to the boiler plant
installed in larger premises, where the burner is mounted on the boiler, rather
than within it, such as in the picture below:
One of the greatest mistakes is to assume that your boiler is inefficient simply
because it is old. The design of these boilers has changed little in the last 50
years; moreover it is fair to say that boilers were constructed much better 25
years ago that they are today. It is a big mistake to assume that just because a
boiler is old that it needs replacement. A far better solution is to replace simply
the burner – something which can be undertaken in a couple of days, at much
lower cost and with far less disruption than replacing the whole boiler. The fact
is that a modern boiler is significantly more efficient than an old one mainly
due to the burner and its related control package. On older boilers, the burner
worked in a simple on/off pattern, perhaps augmented with the ability to
switch between high-fire and low-fire. When these burners turn off, air still
circulates through the furnace area, drawing heat away. The firing rates are
often greater than needed, thus useful heat energy is wasted. By contrast, a
modern burner will be fully-modulating: its heat input will match the heat
demanded of the boiler. It will not supply excessive heat input, and will seldom
need to cycle on & off, as it can reduce its firing rate to as little as 10% of its
maximum. Although reputable burner manufacturers will normally advise that
whilst nothing is guaranteed, a typical energy saving of 10% to 15% is the usual
outcome. In some cases this can be as much as 25%.
Alternative Fuels and Biomass. Both the past and present government have
demonstrated their commitment to making the UK’s energy requirement more
dependent on renewable energy sources by placing significant financial
incentives for companies and individuals to change to “greener” energy
sources. Obvious examples of “green” energy sources are wind farms and solar
panels; less obvious is the use of biofuels in place of traditional fuels.
The financial incentives provided under the Renewable Heat Incentive are very
significant, and will be explained below. Biofuels consist of a range of
alternatives to gas, oil, and LPG. The most easily understood is bio-oil: oil
produced from crops such as, for example, seeds from which oils may be
extracted. The oil may then be burnt in traditional boilers – although it must be
noted that many bio-oils do not have a good shelf life. This means that bio-oil
is entirely viable for a hotel or leisure complex where there is a year-round
demand for hot water. However, an office or school is likely to encounter
problems after the summer. During this time the bio-oil may tend to solidify,
meaning that the system will not work once the heating season resumes. The
oil stock would then have to be disposed of, and the oil feed system purged.
Whilst there are bio-oils which do not deteriorate during storage, these are
generally acidic, and thus necessitate stainless steel storage tanks, pipework,
and valves, as well as often demanding changes to the materials of the oilwetted parts of the burner itself. Simple enough for a new installation, but this
can be an expensive retrofit on an existing site which simply expected to
change fuel type.
Where the Renewable Heat Incentive can be particularly advantageous is for
those sites which can accommodate a new solid fuel boiler to burn biomass.
Biomass often uses wood chip, although fuel pellets manufactured from wood
or other fast-growing crops are becoming increasingly available.
Wood chips
Miscanthus – a fast-growing biomass crop
Fuel pellets
The Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) was introduced in 2011, and was set to
last for 20 years. What it means is that anyone who installs, for example, a
biomass boiler, will enjoy (at the taxpayer’s expense) a rebate for every kWh of
heat produced by burning biomass.
The following table shows the RHI rebates which may be claimed for the
various sizes of boiler plant.
Tariff Name
Small Biomass
Eligible
Technology
Solid Biomass;
Municipal Solid
Waste (incl. CHP)
Eligible Sizes
Less than
200kWth
Medium biomass
200 kWth and
above; less than
1000kWth
Large biomass
1000kWth and
above
Tier 1 = first 1314 hours, Tier 2 = subsequent production
Tariff Rate*
(p/kWh)
Tier 1: 7.9
Tier 2: 2.0
Tier 1: 4.9
Tier 2: 2.0
2.7
It is assumed that the boiler will be in operation during the heating season, and
that it will be correctly sized under current building regulations. The higher RHI
rebate is allowable on the first 1314 hours of operation at rated boiler output,
after which any further output is paid at the second tier rate.
So, if you have a 150kW boiler, for the first 1314 hours, (150kW x 1314 =
197100 kWh) you are entitled to claim a rebate of 197100 x 7.9p = £15,570,
with any further heat production at the lower Tier 2 rate. Bearing in mind that
the installation of a biomass boiler, along with the fuel storage and handling
unit is likely to cost around £35k to £50k, it will take around 3 years to reach
break-even. But after that there will be many years of RHI claims to be
enjoyed.
Along with this, there is the fact that biomass fuels can be significantly cheaper
than traditional fuels, as the chart below demonstrates:
Typical fuel costs (as at spring 2012)
Fuel
Pence per kWh
Mains Gas
Standard Rate
Kerosene
Woodchip
Wood Pellets
4.5
6.7
2.5
5.7
Fuel Price
p/unit
CO2 /kWh
4p/kWh
0.226
60 p/litre
10p/kg
28p/kg
0.308
0.025
0.039
It will be seen that wood chip is a relatively cheap fuel, but its bulk necessitates
a large fuel bunker. Also, due to the inconsistency of chip sizes, a very robust
handling system is needed, which all adds to the cost of the installation.
By comparison, wood (or other biofuel) pellets are a little more expensive than
piped gas, although the RHI rebates will more than compensate in the long
term. However, areas of the country which are not on the gas grid will greatly
benefit, the cost of oil is progressively increasing, and LPG is generally at least
50% more expensive than oil.
The CO2 figures are estimated by DEFRA, and relate to their calculated CO2
footprint after taking account of the processing impact of traditional fuels. This
might seem to be a distorted view, but anyone seeking to gain green
credentials will be glad of that perspective.
So, in conclusion, there are many ways in which a hotel or leisure complex
could improve their profitability by reducing their energy bills. These start with
the simple expedient of becoming one of the 10% or energy users who are
getting the best deal from their supplier, through improvements to the boiler
plant and heating system, to enjoying the generous rebates due under the RHI.
Whatever your needs, Stopher Associates can provide you with sound advice.
We may be contacted on 19767 626330 / info@stopherassociates.co.uk