New thermostats paying big dividends for schools

— New light-sensitive thermostats, installed in the Decatur High School last November, are already saving the district big bucks and are on track to pay for themselves in just a few months.

Using a tiny light sensor, the new thermostats automatically adjust the temperature when the lights in a room are turned on or off, according to maintenance and transportation department manager Sherman Robinson. When lights are on, the heat is set to 70 degrees and the air conditioner is set at 74 degrees. When lights go off, the heat is set at 55 degrees and the cooling is set at 80 degrees.

Teachers are still able to override the thermostats, but after four hours or when the lights go off, they return to their original settings.

“Teachers still have the ability to get more heating or cooling for a period of time,” Robinson said, explaining the devices have more of an effect on nights, weekends and holidays than school hours.

The thermostats can be programmed manually or by plugging in a small programmer, that looks like an mp3 player. With a few flashing lights, the programmer automatically uploads pre-set temperatures to the thermostat.

After learning about the new thermostats, Decatur’s maintenance department tested them in one room and talked to officials at Ozark Adventist Academy in Gentry, where the new thermostats are already in use.

They began installing them in classrooms in November and finished by Christmastime. So far, they have worked exactly like they are supposed to, Robinson said.

“I would recommend them for a house,” he said.

It cost the district around $7,000 to install about 50 new thermostats with thermostat guards, according to Robinson.

After the first full month of use, Superintendent LeRoy Ortman compared gas usage statistics from December 2009 to December 2008. During the 32 daybilling period in 2008, the high school used 7,988 centum cubic feet of natural gas. During the 34 day billing period in 2009, the high school used 4,078 ccfs of natural gas. Considering the fact that gas prices have gone down about 10 cents per ccf, the school paid $4,497 less for gas in December 2009 than in December 2008 - a savings that will pay for a large chunk of the cost of the new thermostats.

Although the number of heating days are not factored into the statistics, Ortman said the elementary school - which has a heating and cooling system controlled by computers - used an almost identical amount of gas during the same period in December 2008 and December 2009.

Another factor in the savings is that part of the middle school buildings were closed down. Some of the classrooms had to be reopened, so Ortman speculated that closing the building had a smaller impact than originally expected.

The new thermostats were paid for with the school’s general fund with the expectation they would pay for themselves in a year or two.

“I wasn’t expecting a pay back in one season - maybe two - but anything that pays for itself in four to five years is a good deal,” Ortman said.

News, Pages 1 on 01/27/2010