Avoiding Peak Demand Charges 2

[ahrbdiamond]

Does anyone have experience in avoiding peak demand charges??-I am working with a large church and their peak demand(elec) costs are over $3k month for a 100,000 sq.ft. facility.

 

[MintJulep]

In a past life I ran into this frequently. Churches have a high peak load, consisting mainly of lighting used on Sunday morning, but relatively few kWh consumed.

Best bet is to get them onto a rate structure that does not include demand charges. Utility companies are usually willing to do this for churches, since the peak demand of a church is not coiencident with the times of max generation capacity.

 

[JStephen]

I think our church runs into this, to a lesser extent, maybe. But peak demand is based on AC's running when it's hot, which is essentially the peak demand time for everyone else, too.

If the facility is large enough, you can look into chilled water storage systems, but it has to be a large facility for something like that to pay.

 

[stanier]

Perhaps you could consider a generator.

 

[buzzp]

Perhaps some energy control device could be installed to even out this peak demand. Maybe turning on the AC a little sooner to lighten the load in trying to cool it before services, etc. The more this can be spread out the better.
I would start with Mints suggestion first.

 

[unclesyd]

Though not the same as an auditorium I use staggered start on of all the refrigeration machines at a fish house. When the power would drop out and when restored all the refrigeration machines would try to come on at the same time and the demand meter would jump off the wall.

I use delay relays in the thermostatic controls that would delay the startups when power was restored. You could use the staggered starts as suggested above to accomplish the essentially the same thing.
I would still go after the power company for the better rate.

It worked quite well, after about three months the power company changed out the meter.