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With no actual end in sight to astronomical electric & gas prices we NEED to save on electric, gas and water. So let’s dive in deep and answer how can my small business save electricity?
Many articles we found on the internet required us to spend, spend, spend to save.
Suggestions like replacing monitors, computers, fridges, boilers and light fittings. These will in the long run save you money, it’s not unwelcome advice. But we have just come out of a pandemic gone straight into an energy crisis coupled with a cost-of-living crisis and now talk of a recession.
For many small businesses it’s not the right time to spend 1000s, for others the money is just not there. So we wanted to help in any way we can to help you and your small business save electricity and money.
Printers
Turn them off, very few businesses need to print these days so walk over and unplug it. Don’t leave it on standby or low-power mode, physically unplug it.
If you are one of the few businesses that does still need to print then ask WHY. You may find you don’t, can you tweak a process or 2 to avoid printing? The answer is yes, we just need to get used to a new way of doing things especially when we are trying to answer the question how can my small business save electricity?
Equipment and Vampire Devices
If we read most of the advice online we are told to upgrade everything to something more energy efficient. Well, we don’t have a lot of money so that won’t happen for some time.
British gas claimed that domestic households lose £2.2BN a year on so-called Vampire Devices. Our small business is the same, we all have a kitchen or kitchenette, any British reader will definitely have a kettle.
By turning off unneeded appliances at the mains as part of our closing process we will save money. Not every business can turn off everything but start out small and see what you save.
Add labels to plugs so employees can clearly identify and turn devices off without the worry they will turn off everything.
- Monitors (See energy saving mode below)
- Microwaves
- Extra Fridge (Do you need an extra Fridge)
- Kettle
Lighting
Bulbs are one of cheaper suggestions when researching how to save electricity. Review your lighting, are they energy efficient and can we replace or upgrade bulbs?
Check if lighting is being used when not needed, have a walk around the office at random times. Does the unused meeting room have its lights on?
Check if natural light is being blocked and can it be unblocked to help reduce light usage. Can we repaint using a lighter colour or move desks to a lighter section of the office?
If money isn’t a barrier, then we can install smart systems to control heating, lighting and nearly everything else you can imagine. Speak to Imperium if you would like to know more.
Computers
We have mentioned monitors and the need to turn them off. Now let’s have a quick walk round the office to see who leaves their machine on all night.
It’s not as much of a problem with modern machines but back in 2008 when I was working at a big corporation many users left their machines powered on all night. Because they didn’t want to wait for it to power up every morning. Modern computer’s power up extremely quickly so this shouldn’t be an issue. Check anyway.
Energy Saving Mode
All modern computers come with energy saving modes, by default Microsoft Windows already has these turned on.
| While plugged into mains | Using battery | |
| Turn off screen | 5 | 3 |
| Put Computer / Laptop to sleep | 5 | 3 |
Employees Charging Personal Devices
This is tricky, since the cost-of-living crisis there has been an uptake in charging devices at work. There needs to be an understanding with this one. Yes, let employees charge their phones as they would have done this before but talk to anyone who is going over the line and charging their electric toothbrush or kid’s remote control car.
After you have learnt how can my small business save electricity, Learn how to save time with some easy to use keyboard shortcuts
Heating
According to a 2020 UK government study 40% of energy use in a non-domestic building is heating. To make sure we are not wasting any energy, we need to check a few details.
- Is the boiler due a service? Yes, this is a cost, but it’s one of the cheaper options.
- Are employees using portable heaters, if so why and are they efficient?
- Are we heating a meeting room that’s rarely used?
- Can we change the heating schedule to better reflect the building’s usage? Do we need to heat the building after 3pm or can it keep heat?
- We often see older thermostats heating offices at 6am because they didn’t account for daylight savings.
- Are windows open, air conditioning on while the heatings on?
- Correctly set heating to maintain 19°C and air conditioning to come on when it’s over 24°C. Some would argue just turn the air conditioning off in the winter.
Heating is difficult, we are all different and all have our own internal thermostat. We need to find the happy medium for all of our employees which may mean a few minor desk changes.
- Sandra is always cold
- Sarah says it’s warm
- Can they move desks to make it more comfortable for them both? Sarah moves closer to a window while Sandra closer to a radiator.
Drafts
Draft excluders aren’t particularly expensive or difficult to fit, to help with our heating costs check doors and windows are correctly protected. Be it cold air entering or hot escaping, both will cost us money.
How Can My Small Business Save Electricity Conclusion
Yes, many energy saving techniques cost hundreds. We don’t have to spend thousands, hundreds, or really anything. By educating employees, changing our habits and a few moving desks we can save energy.
- Move employees to colder or warmer parts of the office to suit their preference.
- Implement new closing procedures to unplug unnecessary devices.
- Educate employees, it’s everyone’s job to help save energy.
These money-saving tips aren’t just for the bad times, when / if prices go down we can still implement these procedures to help lessen our carbon footprint
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