Tailored automation

When you’re producing more than 1 million plants of up to 1,000 different types, trying to implement automation can be more of a hassle than a convenience. But spending about CA$10,000 a month on electrical service and heating is also a problem. That’s the situation Richmond Nursery was facing.

Not to mention, the Ontario-based company realized it was using more energy than necessary. For example, it used simple timers to control lighting in its one acre of greenhouse space, but the need for constant adjustment due to changing daylight throughout the year meant sometimes that light was going to waste.

“We sometimes had situations where we were paying for two hours of lighting when it was unnecessary,” Peter Rofner, general manager of Richmond Nursery, says.

Hoping to cut down on costs and gain better control over the facility’s energy consumption, Richmond Nursery turned to Louis Levetsovitis for an integrated automation system.

Levetsovitis is an HAI by Leviton-certified installer, as well as owner and chief installer of Natural Automation in Greely, Ontario. Given the crop diversity Richmond Nursery produces, Levetsovitis knew a one-size-fits-all approach would not work.

“Specific species of plants get specific amounts of water,” he says. “We went into great detail there.”

The same applied for ventilation rates and amounts of lighting. The automation system also needed to integrate devices known as CO2 burners. If CO2 levels exceeded a certain level in the greenhouse, then the system needed to shut the burners down.

Having the system tailored to the nursery’s needs was a major plus for Rofner.

“I knew what I wanted and where I wanted it to go, and it went pretty smoothly,” he says. “Overall, the installation of the system has worked for us.”

Since the installation, Richmond Nursery’s electrical expense has been cut in half, from CA$6,000 a month to $3,000. Its gas expense went from CA$4,000 to $2,500 per month. These reductions resulted in a total yearly savings of $54,000.

Not only did the company achieve its goal of reducing expenses, it’s also gained the control it was looking for.

“We’ve made huge strides over what we used to have,” Rofner says. “It’s easier for us to program supplemental lighting, giving us control we didn’t have before.”

Information provided by HAI by Leviton.

Want to know more?
Learn more about Richmond Nursery by calling (613) 838-2282 or visiting www.richmondnursery.com. Learn more about HAI by Leviton at www.homeauto.com.