Redshift Climate – How Much Will I Save?

When people look at our products, they invariably ask one very important question

How Much Will I Save?

Unfortunately, the answer to this question is also quite simple

It Depends

Does that sound like we are trying not to answer the question? You bet. You see, things are not that simple. It would be great to be able to say that you will save $250 per year per device, but we really don’t know. The main reason that we don’t know is that this all depends on you! It depends on how things were before, and how this technology will help you going forward.

So, How does it help me?

Well, the best way to save energy is to turn things off when not needed, and use devices appropriately. But you know what? That does not always work. People get complacent and forget. We help you so that you don’t need to worry about always remembering. We will remember for you. Remembering to turn that cooler off every afternoon at 5pm can save you some real money.

Alright, you cannot give me an answer. How much COULD it save me?

Air Conditioners and Heat Pumps often consume up to 3600 W on full power. Some models use more and some use less. Thankfully, most of the time they all consume a heap less than this. Let us make the assumption that they use 1/3rd of the energy, on average.

Businesses operating five days a week are open about 250 days a year. Schools are open about 200 days a year.

Electricity prices vary around the world. In Australia, prices are about $0.25/kWh, but many parts of the world are much cheaper than this. Taking this into account, lets assume that a unit will cost a bit less than this per kWh, and therefore assume that they cost $0.25 per hour to run.

We believe it is reasonable to think that by using the advanced timer functions we can have the device switched off an average of one hour earlier each day. Bear in mind that there will also be cases where units are currently left on overnight by accident which end up costing more money. . But we also assume that every three months the unit will be left on over a weekend. We feel that these accidental uses might account for up an hour of extra usage a day, averaged over the year.

We also believe that by ensuring that the thermostat is set appropriately that you can save more. Adjusting the thermostat by 1C can save up to of 15% of your usage, or another hour per day. If your units are set more than 1C too high or low, the savings could well be double that.

With some very simple calculations we have found that you can save 3-4 hours a day of energy use in many situations, without significantly affecting comfort. If your buildings are then used after hours, even more savings are possible. At the $0.25/kWh electricity price, this can save between $0.75-$1.00 per business day. Over the year this quickly adds up. And as electricity prices increase, so do the savings.

Doing things like automatically locking out devices when they are not really needed can save even more money. In the end, the savings will depend on your individual circumstances, and you will need to ensure that this product meets your requirements.