Hide-Away Storage is going “green” by making major changes at its self-storage locations to conserve energy, including installing new lights along its driveways to cut electrical consumption by 75 percent.
“The new compact fluorescent bulbs we’re using for driveway lights use only 41 watts, compared to 175 watts for the older, metal halide bulbs, and they both produce nearly the same amount of light,” said Steve Wilson, managing partner for the Florida-based company. “The compact florescent lights also last longer and costs less to buy than traditional metal halide. We are helping the environment and also saving money for us and our customers.”
Wilson said most other businesses could benefit from the same changes Hide-Away Storage is making to become greener and also save money. He said only recently did he realize that large compact florescent bulbs are available to replace the traditional metal halide bulbs commonly used for outside lighting. The smaller indoor residential compact florescent bulbs have been available for some time.
Hide-Away also is participating with Florida Power and Light to save electricity by spraying a special heat-reflecting coating on the roofs of its air-conditioned storage buildings. This heat-reflecting film could save up to 20 percent on air-conditioning costs.
A third energy-saving program by Hide-Away is the gradual replacement of traditional florescent lighting fixtures with energy-efficient electronic ballasts and electronic florescent bulbs. The change to electronic ballasts for indoor florescent fixtures could save about 33 percent on electrical demand by cutting the heat generated by traditional ballasts and their electrical demand, Wilson said.
Hide-Away Storage operates 10 traditional self-storage facilities and two mobile storage warehouses in Florida.
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