Energy-Saving Upgrades Yield Big Rewards for Best Western Hotel

By Zach Chizar
Feb 19, 2024 10:30 AM ET
Installing LED lights

The Best Western Kent Narrows Inn in Grasonville, Md. occupies an enviable location on the Chesapeake Bay, which means its management team is kept busy with many guests. So, any help in cutting energy costs—and saving time on maintaining equipment—can go a long way toward helping the hotel run more smoothly and profitably. That is where our Small Business program comes in.

Owner Ramesh Patel decided to upgrade the hotel’s interior and exterior lighting to LED bulbs, both to save energy and to take advantage of rebates that we offer. Because of that success, additional projects followed soon after. Those projects involved adding three, 100-gallon hot water boilers and replacing the existing room HVAC units with more efficient packaged terminal air conditioners (PTAC). They also replaced older, inefficient refrigerators, freezers, and ice machines—and they have definitely noticed the savings that came with those energy-efficient additions, as well as the environmental benefits.

With these upgrades, the Best Western Kent Narrows Inn is estimated to save more than 200,000 kWh of energy and more than $31,000 on their energy bill each year.

They worried getting the rebates for their energy efficiency projects would require too much paperwork. But we were there to help. Our Service Providers met with Patel and Lacoste, handling the paperwork for them to make the projects turnkey. After the success of the previous upgrades, Best Western Kent Narrows Inn has more projects on the horizon— and we will be there to help them every step of the way.

Our Energy Savings for Business program provides financial incentives and technical assistance to help businesses maximize energy efficiency and reduce energy costs. Financial incentives can cover up to 70 percent of project costs.

For more information, visit delmarva.com/SmallBusiness or call 866-353-5799.