Conservation Tips for Tough Economic Times

It is now official. The U.S. economy is officially in recession. It only took a year for the brains at the think tank to figure out what we small business owners have known all along. As consumers tighten their purse strings, many carwash operators have seen a decline in wash counts over the past year. If you turn on any news channel, the doom and gloom rain down.

So let’s do something about it. As small business owners, we constantly evaluate our businesses to see if we can make improvements. We often see little things that need improvement, but many of us skip over them and make a mental note to “fix it the next time.” If you add all of the little things together, you might be surprised at the level of wasted spending.

Following are a few conservation areas where you may be able to save a substantial amount of money.

Water

Did you know that a sticking float valve can waste 45,000 gallons of water per month? That is equal to washing 200 to 300 cars or throwing $183 per month down the drain. Do you have a leaking toilet? You could be wasting 6,000 gallons of water per month and washing another $24 per month down the drain.

Do I have your attention? Just fixing those two minor problems could save you $2,484 per year.

I suggest you give your plumbing a “once over” at least once a month to check for leaks. Problems can really start to add up. Make a quick checklist of items to inspect and make a note if there is an issue that you cannot fix at that time. Below is a list of items I check regularly to ensure I am not wasting water:

1. Verify all float valves in water and chemical tanks are not sticking or overflowing.
2. Check all joints in exposed plumbing for pin holes.
3. Verify faucets and hose bibs are not leaking.
4. Verify water softeners are regenerating on schedule.
5. Ensure that a reverse osmosis (RO) unit is operating at peak performance.
6. Check high-pressure nozzles for excessive wear.
7. If winter, check the weep settings on equipment. Optimize settings if you have an electronic system.
8. Check for leaking soap nozzles on equipment.
9. Verify that check valves on the under-car wash are not stuck open, creating a siphon.

I also have implemented a few other ideas to help conserve water at my sites. For example, if a bay is dirty, my site attendants will blow or sweep the bay before we use the rinse-down feature in the bay. We also use our RO reject water as rinse water.

Electricity

The average bay light and pole light cost roughly $16.28 per month to operate if you are operating a 24-hour facility. If you have 12 lights, that equals $2,344.32 spent yearly for lighting. There are ways to reduce this cost. I have added new timers to cut half of my lights off after midnight, including my marquee signs. I am estimating an annual savings of more than $1,000 per location.

Here are a few other suggestions to help conserve electricity:

1. Switch equipment room lights from regular bulbs to fluorescent lighting. Fluorescent bulbs use 75 percent less energy than regular bulbs. Look for Energy Star-rated bulbs.
2. Insulate attics and walls to help reduce heating costs in the winter.
3. Turn thermostats down on electric heating in equipment rooms. Maintain a temperature that keeps the location from freezing.
4. Turn thermostats down on hot water heaters (if using electric heaters).
5. Turn thermostats down on soap heaters on automatic equipment to the manufacturer’s recommended setting.
6. Seal around doors and other openings in equipment room walls to prevent heat loss.
7. Unplug electric devices, such as battery chargers, when they are not being used.
8. Turn off computers when not in use, if they are not needed to run equipment.
9. Turn off equipment room lights if you are out of the building for longer than 15 minutes.
10. Make sure you drain your air compressor daily. Condensation buildup will cause a compressor to run more than necessary, thus wasting energy.

Natural Gas/Propane

If you are using natural gas or propane for heating, it is important to have your boilers and heaters checked by an authorized technician. Most states require that boilers are inspected and certified at least on a bi-annual basis.