WHEN Mareeba-based banana growers, Howe Farming Enterprises, decided it was time to start cultivating some energy-saving measures to reduce costs, they called the Kill-a-Watt campaign.
Regional Development Australia has launched the campaign – funded by the Department of Industry and exclusive to Far North Queensland – to help local businesses and community organisations identify ways to slash their electricity usage.
Howe Farming Enterprises manager, James Howe, asked Kill-a-Watt energy assessor and qualified engineer, Cary White, to investigate power saving opportunities on the property, which includes a packing shed, cool room storage, administration block and outdoor canteen.
“I’ve noticed a lot of areas I would like to improve in terms of efficiency, but didn’t know the right approach,” Mr Howe said.
“The opportunity to have a government-subsidised energy assessment was too good to pass up,” he said.
For the cost of a Level 2 assessment ($990), Mr White undertook a comprehensive on-site survey and equipment analysis that identified thousands of dollars in potential energy savings per year for the banana farm.
Refrigeration costs are a hot potato for most growers, and Howe Farming Enterprises is no exception. Their refrigeration system currently accounts for almost 60 per cent of total energy consumption on site – and costs $60,000 per year to operate.
When Mr White inspected the cool rooms (in August), he found a significant amount of energy was literally walking out the door, because the main doors to the chiller room were being left open for extended periods, allowing cool air to escape. Low stock levels at the time just exacerbated the energy wastage.
“These factors combined could be inflating the running costs of the refrigeration system by up to 300 percent,” Mr White said.
“Because the cool rooms are not reaching their set temperature quickly – if at all,” he said.
Mr White advised Howe Farming Enterprises to consider installing automatic doors.
“This will lead to a reduction in the duty cycle of the refrigeration system – and automatically reduce energy consumption.
“If automatic doors were not practical to operate, placing flexible plastic blinds over cool room entrance ways was an alternative option.
“These need to hang from top to bottom with minimal air gaps.”
Lighting is not often viewed as a high energy consumer, but it can eventually make growers such as Howe Farming Enterprises see red when it comes to power costs.
“Over time, the large amount of fluoro lighting – mainly T8 battens – used in the factory not only add to power consumption, but also the base load demand charges incurred under Ergon Energy’s Tariff 44 for large businesses,” Mr White said.
He said replacing the 90 fluoro tubes in the cool rooms with more energy-efficient LED lights would save the business almost $2,300 per year.
“If Howe Farming Enterprises also swapped the remaining 50 fluoro tubes used elsewhere on site with LED lighting, they would save almost another $1000 per year, while replacing the high bay induction lights in the main packing area and extension shed with LED equivalents would slash an extra $1,250 from their annual power bill.
“Sometimes it is easy to overlook small areas of energy wastage, while focusing on the big ticket items. However, even minor savings can add up.”
Mr White said that one of the display fridges in the outdoor canteen was leaking and not closing properly – allowing cool air to escape from the bottom of the seals.
He also recommended turning off the canteen kitchen appliances, including ovens and grills, when not in use, to reduce both their power use and the amount of energy required by the air-conditioner to deal with the heat they generate.
Howe Farming Enterprises already possess a roof-top 30 KW PV solar system. Mr White advised them to consider extending it to a 100 KW system.
“The annual yield from a 70 KW extension, facing north/south, would be 115,000 KW.
“However, they would need to obtain approval for the extension from Ergon Energy first.”
The energy assessment provided Howe Farming Enterprises with plenty of food for thought.
“It was very thorough and alerted us to certain practices we had never considered inefficient – but it turns out there are better ways of going about it,” Mr Howe said.
To book a Kill-a-Watt energy assessment, phone 1300 545 529. For further information about the Kill-a-Watt campaign, visit www.kill-a-watt.com.au
