With the winter season on us and as we move into end of the year, we have 5 useful year-end tips about the stewarding of your ministry facilities….these are all practical items that every church can implement:
1. Reduce Your Set Points (temperature)
For each degree you lower your thermostat (for heat); you will lower your utility bill by an average of one percent. This is the easiest way to reduce your energy consumption…thus your operational costs.
2. Use Ice
This time of year, many churches decorate their facilities with Poinsettias. They are a seasonal plant that is a mainstay during the Christmas and winter season. Well…the best way to “water” these plants is to use an ice slurry. If you use only water, the potting soil tends to dry out quickly due to the heat drying the air and absorbing moisture in the air and in our plants (and anything in our facilities that have moisture including your wood). By using this ice slurry, you allow the ice to melt and continue to “water” the plants over a longer period of time, keeping them fresher longer.
3. Change Your Filters
Changing the air filters in your HVAC systems is a key aspect of your preventive maintenance initiative. For many, the change of the season is a great reminder to perform this task. However, is your ac furnace leaking water? If you live in Portland, an affordable and reliable team of professionals is waiting for your call as they are always ready to help.
Remember that regular filter changes can extend the life of your units and reduce energy consumption (i.e. – SAVE MONEY) If your unit is not blowing out the right temperature, you should hire a heating and cooling technician to diagnose the problem.
4. Get the Right Entrance Mats
The right entrance mats are the first line of defense to keeping dirt out of your facility, including sand, snow, ice-melt, leaves, etc. It also is needed to protect your occupants from potential slip hazards given wet conditions. Ideally, the matting would start outside the entrance doors and continue inside, allowing the occupants to step 3 times with each foot on a mat. And not just any mat….get the right “kind” of mat that does not crush…can store dirt and water for future removal…and reduces the possibility of dirt being tracked into your facility. Remember, that 80% of all dirt enters your facility from people’s feet, and it costs between $500-700 to remove a pound of dirt once it is in your facility…so the best way to reduce cost in cleaning is to stop the dirt form entering your facility.
5. 100-Watt Bulbs
Because of a new federal energy act, 100-watt incandescent light bulbs will disappear from store shelves in the United States starting next year (2012). The bulb will no longer be available because of a new energy act that mandates all light bulbs be 25 to 35 percent more efficient. So if you’ve just got to have 100-watt incandescent bulbs….you need to get a large truck and head to your local Lowe’s, Home Depot, Wal-Mart, or the like and stock up because come January 1, 2012…you may not find them.
BONUS: Don’t forget that if you have not already started your conversion from T12 fluorescent bulbs to T8, you may find yourself in the same boat as with the 100-watt bulbs….don’t wait on this.
There you have them…practical tips to help you be a better steward of the facilities God has entrusted to you.
