Schools take a look at energy savings
Carmen Paige
cpaige@pnj.com
Santa Rosa County teachers may be asked to adjust their classroom thermostats by one degree to help the district cut costs.
That’s one of the energy-saving ideas scheduled to be presented to School Board members at Tuesday’s meeting.
The district’s electricity cost is estimated at nearly $5.7 million, which is about $586,000 more than last year, said Joey Harrell, assistant superintendent for administrative services. Air conditioning and heating account for 50 percent of that cost.
“We keep our thermostats at 70 degrees for heating and 74 degrees for cooling,” he said. “If we just bump up one degree for cooling and down one degree for heating, we could save over $150,000.”
Based on an average teacher salary with benefits of $48,000, adjusting the thermostats could mean saving three teaching jobs, Harrell said.
“I welcome that,” said Janie Seal, an art teacher at S.S. Dixon Primary School at a recent budget task force meeting. “No one has ever told me what I can have my heating and air conditioning on.”
Another idea on saving money through energy efficiency is removing mini-refrigerators, microwaves and space heaters at schools and other district buildings, Harrell said. He said a mini-refrigerator costs about $62 per year.
“Based on an average of 20 mini-refrigerators at each site, that costs around $40,000, which is another teacher unit,” he said. “It seems minor, but when you plug in coffee pots, microwaves and mini-refrigerators, it can add up.”
The district has energy-efficient measures like light timers in classrooms and timers on air-conditioning units, Harrell said. He said the district is working with Gulf Power Co. officials on more measures without compromising comfort.
“You can’t sweat or freeze everybody out,” he said.
Getting students involved will help lower electricity costs for the district and parents, said board member Diane Scott.
“If we can make it a trickle-down effect where kids come home and turn off the lights, parents will be happy,” she said.