The warehouse is a very important element of the supply chain for nearly any company that produces a tangible product. However, a lot of money can also be lost with how businesses maintain their warehouses. Part of this loss comes from a lack of energy efficiency. This inefficiency can also have a negative impact on the environment. With this in mind, below are some strategies you can use to keep your warehouse operations more energy efficient.

Update Warehouse Lighting

One of the biggest expenses and energy wasters for warehouses is lighting. Heating and lighting together account for 64 percent of energy use in most warehouses. Investigate different strategies for bringing lighting costs down. Implement more cost efficient choices like LED and T5 lighting. Also add motion sensors so lighting is only activated when it’s needed. If your warehouse is automated, you may not need to run the lights at all.

Update Warehouse Heating

Heating costs also take up a large portion of warehouse expense. Old furnaces and boilers do not run very well. They expend a lot of energy to heat a huge space like a warehouse very slowly. You should consider updating to a more energy efficient choice such as a fire tube steam boiler. Such a boiler can provide more energy efficiency compared to other boiler designs thanks to the use of many small tubes that provide more surface area to be heated for the same amount of boiler volume.

Check Windows and Doors

Temperature control is a big expense for warehouses. If a warehouse is not kept at a specific temperature, it may result in the spoilage of the goods stored within. Energy use for heat and air conditioning to maintain those temperatures in such a big space can be substantial. One way to lower the burden of your heating and cooling system is to check windows and doors in the warehouse to see if there are any gaps allowing cool or warm air to escape. Installing things like weather stripping may fix the problem.

Overall, you may not be aware of all the many different ways your warehouse is wasting energy. This can impact the environment as well as your bottom line. Make sure to perform efficiency audits on a routine basis to assess if there are any steps you can take to increase your warehouse’s energy efficiency. You may be oblivious to some of the lead causes of your warehouse’s energy inefficiency.