A report by Cornwall Insight regarding high energy prices for the foreseeable future, sent alarm bells sounding around organisations that have an obligation to provide comfortable environments in multi-occupancy housing, such as student accommodation.
The almost unique situation that exists in a lot of these dwellings is that the occupant doesn’t directly pay for the energy they consume. Great for students and their budgeting, but for room providers, recent price increases have put a real dent in their cash-flow.
Shopping around for cheaper energy is futile as all energy providers are facing the same issues.
So, what are the options?
In the case of student accommodation, the logical solution is to control energy consumption at the point of use.
It’s human nature to consume more of what is considered free! All energy managers will have anecdotes of thermostats being turned up to maximum and then left at that setting. The only control method being, to open the window when the room is too hot.
On-board heater controls go some way to regulating consumption, with timers, programmes, and restrictions on maximum outputs etc. But most are manufactured for the domestic market, where homeowners are responsible for paying the bills, and therefore are not trying to ‘cheat the system’.
In a commercial application the integrated, ‘locked’ controls are easily ‘un-locked’ by resourceful students and the ‘domestic’ product is easily damaged in more challenging environments.
A local control system designed and manufactured specifically for the student market is the most appropriate and cost-effective way in these circumstances.
But what criteria should those seeking such a control use to make the right choice?
By constantly seeking to reduce energy input, a system such as Ecostat2 from Prefect provides control that in real terms saves hard cash.
