Orchid specialists Burnham Nurseries have invested in its environmental policy and reduced its energy consumption by 27%, saving over £5,500 in the process. 

It has joined forces with Vickers Energy Group to install its energy management system which control the gas heaters throughout the Devon-based nursery after the company decided it wanted to control the rising cost of its energy bills and increase the priority of environmental issues within the business.

The advanced energy management system regulates and monitors the temperature throughout the various buildings at the nursery by using highly accurate digital air sensors, which ensures the heaters work to their optimum efficiency.   

Within the first year of installation the family run business has seen huge saving in CO2 emissions of 28 tonnes and the overall gas reduction stands at 152,906 kWh.

David Hilton from Vickers Energy said: “Working in such delicate conditions brought with it some new and exciting challenges to the project.  

"For obvious reasons the temperature of the nursery has to be maintained to cultivate the orchids. We were tasked with balancing that and, at the same time, meeting the demands of the environmental requirements of the business. 

"The carbon footprint of nurseries can be huge and our team worked closely with Burnham Nurseries to ensure that all the demands placed on the business were met.

"The savings are a testament to the system and that it can help address even the most unusual of situations.”

Sara Rittershausen from Burnham Nurseries said: “As an orchid nursery the heating issues we face in our greenhouses are on a large scale. We wanted to save money but it was a daunting prospect trying to tackle the constantly rising energy bills. 

"We have improved our environmental policy within the business and an energy management system has been a big step forward in this process. Installing the Vickers system has been a huge help and made the task of addressing our bills simple. 

"It’s effective, low maintenance and we’re really happy with the results in the first year without compromising on the quality of the orchids we grow.”

Vickers has recently been awarded with the accolades of Energy Product of the Year from the prestigious Environment and Energy Awards 2014, a Gold Green Apple Award within their Energy Saving Category, Green Business of the Year at the Trafford Business Awards and is accredited by the Carbon Trust.

For further information on how you can work with Vickers to reduce your energy consumption, call 0800 0933 588.