HOM Furniture is one of the nation's largest furniture retailers serving customers in the upper Midwest, with an average store size of 100,000+ square feet. Since 2010, they have been tracking their utility and energy performance data with EnergyPrint's Utility Dashboard – a cloud-based energy management software – to better understand their energy usage.
With energy as one of HOM Furniture's top 3 operating expenses – costing them over $227,000 annually – they were looking for a more cost-effective solution to increase energy efficiency across their portfolio of retail stores. Watch the video to learn what HOM Furniture's Real Estate Manager, John Pierce, loves most about 75F Outside Air Optimization package...you know, besides the $18,400+ in electricity savings!
"75F has impacted our business drastically", says John P. "It's a no brainer, in my mind."
Enter 75F Outside Air Optimization
HOM recognized the opportunity 75F presented to optimize their existing 10-year-old RTU equipment at their Plymouth, MN showroom location. We installed our Outside Air Optimization (OAO) economizer controls to allow for remote monitoring, control, advanced scheduling, and setback capabilities. 75F's OAO works to limit the use of air conditioning by using free outside air when conditions are met.
Ease of Use
The 75F system provides HOM Furniture with precise zone control. How precise? "We have mattresses in our store that need to be at 70˚F in order for them to operate the way they're supposed to", explains John Pierce, HOM Furniture real estate manager. "If the mattress department is 66˚F, I'll grab my phone, and I'll pop those zones up 4 or 5 degrees."
This is all possible due to Facilisight, 75F's suite of web and mobile apps, which allows for remote monitoring and control. Remote diagnostics make it easy to keep an eye on equipment performance and diagnose issues – cutting back on site visits, guest interference, and wasted time. John even mentioned being able to shut down a unit from his phone on the weekend from his kitchen counter, due to a mechanical issue. This allowed him to schedule a repair truck to roll for Monday morning, saving him the "peak hours of sending a tech out" to the site.
Easy. Peasy.
Significant Savings
It didn't take long after 75F's installation to see dramatic results in building performance. Within the first five months of installation, the Utility Dashboard and 75F HVAC controls upgrade saved the Plymouth site more than $18,400 in total electricity costs.
Interested in learning more about our work with HOM Furniture and commercial real estate? Download the HOM Furniture case study!