One morning last summer, I turned on the water in the shower and waited for it to warm up. And waited\u2026and waited. It was clear something was wrong, so I checked the water heater to find it emptying its contents into the floor drain, through the bottom of the tank, which I found later had rusted away. Between my better-than-average plumbing skills, having a son home from college, and finding out I could keep about $800 in my pocket if I bought a new one and replaced it myself, I woke the boy up (which turned out to be one of the more difficult tasks in the process), drove to my friendly neighborhood home improvement center, and bought myself a new water heater, and we had hot water by the time my wife got home from work that afternoon. Considering the way it started, it turned out to be a pretty good day. Not only was it more efficient (and therefore cheaper to run) than the one I replaced, the water heater I bought also qualified for a rebate, which increased my savings on the project to almost $900. That was some FANTASTIC icing on an already pretty decent cake.<\/p>\n
Rewards like this for being energy conscious have been routinely offered by utility companies for years now. One time, I got a box of LED light bulbs, enough weather stripping for TWO houses the size of mine, and water-conserving shower heads, for free, from my electric company as part of a home energy audit. That was a pretty good day too.<\/p>\n
Many utility companies across the country have similar programs for residential customers, and commercial ones too. Duke Energy (my free light bulb folks), for example, has a program they call Smart$aver that offers rebates and other incentives to companies for making energy-efficient improvements. Equipment that qualifies for these incentives includes process pumping systems, insulation for injection molding machinery & pellet dryer ducts, low friction v-belts for rotating machinery, and compressed air equipment.<\/p>\n
That last one is what I wanted to write about today. It includes improvements to the supply side:<\/p>\n
- \n
- Receiver tanks<\/li>\n
- Cycling air dryers<\/li>\n
- Zero-loss condensate drains<\/li>\n
- Compressed air system audits<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
And the demand side:<\/p>\n
EXAIR can help you out with the ones on the demand side. Consider:<\/p>\n
Ultrasonic Leak Detector:<\/strong> this handheld device allows you to quickly & easily find leaks in your compressed air system.<\/p>\n
\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.exair.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/uld-collage.jpg?resize=760%2C377&ssl=1\")
<\/a>EXAIR Model 9207 Ultrasonic Leak Detector filters out audible sound waves and focuses on the ultrasonic sound generated when compressed air finds its way out of a loose fitting, crack, etc. The parabolic disc (left) lets you find the area of the leak(s) and the tube extension (right) directs you to the precise location.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n \n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.exair.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/1100-copper-line.jpg?resize=760%2C1013&ssl=1\")
<\/a>The copper tube used to have a crimped end that was aimed at the part in the chuck. They simply cut it off and used a compression fitting to install the Super Air Nozzle.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n Super Air Nozzles:<\/a><\/strong> not only will these products get you a rebate, they\u2019ll cost less to operate and will ensure OSHA compliance with regard to your use of compressed air. And they\u2019ll do it quieter, to boot.<\/p>\n
Replacing open-ended blow offs with Super Air Nozzles<\/a> is oftentimes quick and easy. Compression fittings can be used to install them directly onto the ends of existing copper tubing. Stay Set Hoses<\/a> can replace modular hose, which is great for machine tool coolant delivery but often misapplied for air blowing.<\/p>\n
\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.exair.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/locline-and-copper-tubing-vs-super-air-nozzles.jpg?resize=760%2C306&ssl=1\")
<\/a>And frankly, I think the engineered products just look better too.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n The Duke Energy Smart$aver program<\/a> is for their customers in North Carolina, South Carolina, Indiana, Ohio, and Kentucky. If that\u2019s not you, though, North Carolina State University\u2019s NC Clean Energy Technology Center has a comprehensive Database of State Incentives for Renewables & Efficiency \u2013 DSIRE<\/a> \u2013 that\u2019ll help you find what\u2019s available in your area.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.exair.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/Dsire-Map.png?resize=760%2C376&ssl=1\")
<\/a><\/figure>\nCompressed air isn\u2019t free. Heck, it isn\u2019t even cheap.<\/a> If you want to find out how much you can save by optimizing your compressed air system in Six Steps<\/a>, give me a call<\/a>. And if you want to sweeten the deal with rebates and incentives, contact your local utility company.<\/p>\n
Russ Bowman, CCASS<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.exair.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/image.png?resize=200%2C138&ssl=1\")
<\/a><\/figure>\nApplication Engineer
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