In short
Schools sit empty for about 70 percent of the year
Ohmwood watched for two weeks before changing anything
No extra comfort complaints all winter
Northfield runs twelve schools across three towns. Until last year, one person looked after the energy for all of them, mostly from a spreadsheet and a set of keys.
Start with the empty hours
Schools are empty for more hours than they are full. Evenings, weekends and holidays add up to roughly 70 percent of the year, yet most heating schedules were written for the busiest day of term.
In the first two weeks Ohmwood only watched. It matched heating demand against timetables, after-school clubs and the caretaker's lock-up times. The gap was obvious.
Halls were warming up at 5 a.m. for assemblies that start at 9.
Small moves, every five minutes
Nothing dramatic changed. Setpoints moved by a degree here and there, boilers started later on mild mornings, and sports halls only heated when a booking existed.
By March the trust had used 31 percent less electricity and 24 percent less gas than the year before, normalised for weather. Not one extra comfort complaint was logged.
By the numbers
−31%
Electricity used across 12 schools
Written by
DO
Daniel Osei
Energy Manager, Northfield Schools
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