We undertook successful control and optimisation trials with four B&Q stores this year (Hemel Hempstead, Oldham, Southport and Northampton). Similar projects have taken place at Screwfix and Castorama Poland.
The idea was to analyse temperatures across the day and night to work out where savings could be delivered. For example, we saved 18,000 kWh by controlling pre-trade heating, equivalent to the annual electricity consumption of around seven UK homes. This was so successful we will be rolling it out to a further 29 stores, saving an estimated 1.5 GWh of gas annually. We also looked at where heating in stores was on unnecessarily during summer months. By adjusting this we were able to save 2,000 kWh.
The study also included cold-zone optimisation trials. Cold-zone optimisation involves heating certain areas of the store (such as delivery bays) to lower temperatures than the rest of the store, installing high-speed closing doors to limit heat loss, and ensuring the heating is off when doors are open. In a two-store trial we were able to save 10,000 kWh/week. By rolling this out to a further 21 stores we could save 5.2 GWh annually, enough to power nearly 2,000 UK homes for a year.
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