The Village Store is a family owned retail business that is open 7 days a week in Caldercruix, a village about 20 miles east of Glasgow in North Lanarkshire.
When Jaspel Singh and his family took over the store and were planning its refurbishment, they contacted us for help to investigate energy saving opportunities they could incorporate into their plans.
In particular, the owners were interested in upgrading the store’s refrigeration and lighting during the refurbishment. They suspected that this would be a way to cut down energy bills and the store’s carbon footprint.
An adviser visited the site to provide an expert assessment of the opportunities for reducing the store’s energy consumption.
The adviser noticed that some of the existing chill units had open displays which typically have poor energy efficiency rates. With a substantial number of fridge and freezer units operating in the shop, for 24 hours a day, this was resulting in a high energy demand.
The adviser also spotted an opportunity to replace the linear fluorescent lighting with LED flat panels. Swapping the lighting over to a more energy efficient system had the potential to save the shop £676 a year which would payback the upfront costs of installation in only 3 years.
Following our adviser’s assessment, Jaspel received a summary report that estimated the running cost for operating the existing chill units, to allow for comparison with the running cost of more energy efficient, glass-doored replacements. It also included the recommendation for installing energy efficient LED lighting to replace the old and inefficient fluorescent lighting.
In total, the report identified £2,012 savings on annual energy costs, and 4.5 tonnes of annual carbon savings.
Measures such as new refrigeration can have large upfront costs, but the Scottish Government’s SME Loan Scheme is available for businesses like Jaspel’s and our advisers were able to help Jaspel access the loan. He was particularly pleased to be eligible for an additional 15% cashback.
With the help of the SME Loan, cashback and detailed report, Jaspel was able to implement all the adviser’s recommendations. The Village Store now has three new chiller units and two new freezer units. This new refrigeration will improve the energy efficiency as a result of incorporating new refrigerants, improved compressor technology and reduced temperature loss from enhanced insulation. Jaspel’s business will see an estimated 27% reduction in energy consumption from the new energy efficient replacement units compared with the existing fridge and freezer units.
Further to this, new LED lighting was installed as recommended and has not only saved money but provides much better light for showcasing the shop’s goods.
“I’m very happy and grateful for the support from the service and the SME Loan. The advisors provided great assistance and support throughout and made the process easy for me. I don’t think it would have been possible without this step by step support and guidance.” Jaspal Singh, Owner, Village Store.
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