Headquartered in Belfast, Harry Corry has more than 50 retail outlets throughout Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland and Scotland and employs more than 600 staff. They sell curtains, bedding, curtain poles, lamps, mattresses, furniture, wallpaper, cushions and rugs.
In 2015, after carrying out a number of energy efficiency audits of Harry Corry’s facilities in Newry, Omagh and Coleraine stores and at their Belfast headquarters, Energia agreed a series of energy saving projects with the company. Energia replaced the old metal halide and fluorescent light fittings with energy efficient LED lighting systems. They also fitted occupancy detectors, so the lights were only used when people were using the buildings.
As a result, the company reduced their electricity bill by 45%, saving almost 450,000 KWhs. This means they reduced their annual carbon footprint by 61 tonnes. Even better, the payback period will be one and a half years.
This work was carried out under Energia’s “Cash for Kilowatts” scheme that provides grant funding to companies for energy efficiency projects. It means that any company carrying out an energy efficiency project can qualify for grant funding based on the amount of energy they save. The grant can fund up to 30% of the project cost.
As well as benefitting from the generous grants, businesses will also make very significant ongoing savings through the energy efficiency projects. For example:
· Lighting: LED and high efficiency lighting can typically reduce your lighting costs by up to 75%
· Heating: a new boiler or heating controls can save over 25% of your annual fuel costs
· Refrigeration: new systems can reduce your costs by up to 30%
Rachel Henry, Harry Corry commented, “With electricity costs being a significant outlay for the company, it makes sense to reduce our bills by as much as possible while at the same time reducing our carbon footprint.”
“By changing to LED lighting we have transformed, not only our retail spaces, but also our offices and warehousing facilities.”
“We have seen some great results, both visually and financially, and we are looking forward to continuing with lighting improvements in our remaining stores throughout Ireland.”
“The grant from Energia has provided a real incentive to undertake these projects and makes the payback period that much shorter. I would not hesitate in recommending the Energia grant scheme to other businesses.”
Jennifer Treacy, Energia Energy Services Co-ordinator commented, “Harry Corry is following a wide range of Energia customers by making its operations more energy efficient. By working with us they can save significant amounts of money on their energy bills and reduce their carbon footprint.”
“Energia in association with Northern Ireland Strategic Energy Programme has funding available in Northern Ireland for energy efficiency projects. Since our initiative began Energia has supported over 700 projects around Ireland, which has saved them over £10 million a year on their electricity bills. Together we have saved 93,000,000 kWh per year and prevented 43 million tonnes of carbon being needlessly released into our environment.”