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05/23/2017 12:00 AMClinton-based Kenyon International, Inc., is seeing its commitment to being more energy efficient pay off to the tune of $4,100 in annual savings thanks to EnergizeCT, a partnership between utility Eversource and the State of Connecticut.
Kenyon International, which manufactures ceramic glass cooktops and stainless steel electric grills, decided to improve the manufacturing and office areas of its building.
“We wanted to improve the lighting for our employees,” said Kenyon President Phil Williams.
While Williams said employees weren’t complaining about the old fluorescent lights, a difference was noticed once the new LED lights were installed.
One noticeable aspect of the new lights was the improvements to the production side of the company.
“The new lights allowed production people to find small defects and allowed them to stop cosmetic quality issues,” Williams said.
Williams said each of the products Kenyon produces “has to be perfect,” and the new lighting allows for the engineers to find small cracks or scratches before the products are seen by consumers.
Williams noted an additional benefit of the new lights.
“We also installed dimmers in the Engineering Department, which has reduced the strain on employees’ eyes. They can dim the lights to whatever level they need for any given task.”
Kenyon was able to install the lights thanks to a partnership with the power company Eversource as part of an initiative called Energize Connecticut. According to the Energize Connecticut website EnergizeCT.com, “Energize Connecticut is an initiative dedicated to empowering Connecticut to make smart energy choices, now and in the future. We provide Connecticut consumers, businesses, and communities the resources and information they need to make it easy to save energy and build a clean energy future for everyone in the state. It is an initiative of the Connecticut Energy Efficiency Fund, the Connecticut Green Bank, the state, and your local electric and gas utilities. The initiative has funding support from a charge on customer energy bills.”
“We’re able to take the money saved on energy and invest it back into research and development, so we can make more products. We design and manufacture the products right here in Clinton, which means more job opportunities, too,” Williams said in a press release.
As an example of the investment into research and development, Williams said the company was able to upgrade equipment for the engineers.
To cover the upfront cost of the project, Kenyon took out a zero-interest loan offered through Energize Connecticut. The payments for the project are added to the company’s electric bill, but due to the reduced energy used by the new equipment, the bill isn’t much different than what it normally pays, according to Williams.
For more information about Energize Connecticut, visit EnergizeCT.com/businesses or call 877-947-3873.