For innumerable businesses, energy bills represent the biggest expenses on their profit and loss statement. Energy costs can be significant, as prices have risen to their highest levels in decades. It’s legitimate to take measures to save money on business energy.
Savings fall to the bottom line and add up to become big money. It doesn’t matter if your business operates with a few employees or employs a large workforce. Use energy wisely, and, most importantly, look for ways to save on energy costs. With that in mind, here are some suggestions.
Switch To a New Energy Tariff or Supplier
The cost of your energy bill is affected by the type of tariff you’re on. You can cut the costs of your energy bills, but you’ll need a tariff that offers a lower unit rate and standing charge than the one you’re currently on. When your gas or electricity contract comes to an end, switch to a new energy tariff. Better yet, change your energy supplier. It’s helpful to have the following information:
- Your full address
- The name of your current supplier
- The name of your current energy tariff
- Your annual energy usage or costs
Compare business energy prices to determine if your energy tariff is the best value. The likelihood is that you’re not on your supplier’s most competitive rates. More exactly, you’re overpaying for energy. Reach out to your gas or electricity supplier and see if they can offer you a better deal. If the answer is negative, switch to another supplier. It takes about 21 days to switch to a new energy firm. However, this doesn’t include the 14-day cooling-off period the seller must give you. Perhaps you’ll change your mind before the switch begins.
Don’t Leave Devices on Standby
If you’re in the habit of leaving devices on standby, you’re wasting a lot of energy. Active standby mode can cost 5 to 10 times more in electricity. The worst devices to leave on standby are the printer/scanner, laptop, and smart speaker. You’d better switch them off completely. Through adjustments in your business management practices, you can have a significant impact on your energy consumption. Turn off or avoid leaving devices on standby out of working hours. The silence and apparent inactivity are misleading, to say the least. In the background, the devices are slowly but surely draining energy.
Set Your Thermostat to An Energy-Saving Temperature
You can easily save energy at the office by adjusting the thermostat temperature. Setting the thermostat higher or lower than the ambient air temperature leads to increased energy consumption. The energy loss can be considerable, especially during the worst heating or cooling season. The more energy you use, the more you’ll pay per unit for that energy. It’s recommended to turn the thermostat back 7 to 10 degrees from its normal settings for 8 hours a day. This way, you’ll achieve annual savings of at least 10%. Equally important is to make sure the doors and windows are properly sealed.
Arrange For an Energy Audit
Maximise your savings by arranging for an energy audit at your building. It’ll provide a complete electricity consumption and energy efficiency assessment. A specialist will evaluate the energy performance of your workplace by examining lighting, heating, insulation, ventilation, etc. They’ll identify the weak points in your home and offer advice on how to rationalise your energy consumption. Any improvement in energy efficiency within your organisation results in significant business benefits. Attention needs to be paid to the fact that, in the UK, business energy audits are mandatory for organisations with more than 250 employees. Small and medium-sized businesses aren’t required to carry out energy audits, but it’s in their best interest to do so.
Using energy is unavoidable, but it’s possible to make savings on your bill. There are several energy auditors out there who can highlight troublesome areas and provide invaluable advice. If you want, you can do a DIY energy audit. Even the most basic investigation will reveal sufficient insight into energy wastage. If you’re confident about doing this, then go right ahead. Set a date for the audit. If you’re visiting multiple sites, take this into account. Evaluate in terms of energy efficiency. Also, bear in mind the age and the condition of the windows, fittings, and switches. They might need replacing.
Encourage All Staff to Be Energy-Aware
Of course, you should get your people involved in the process. Some of your employees may have already adopted energy-efficient practices. Nonetheless, staff across all departments should comply with the overall energy strategy. You can create promotional material around the policies you’ve developed. Encourage people to come up with innovative ideas to save energy in the workplace. Give them complete freedom to offer ideas. Most importantly, retain the right kind of employees. Use your company culture as a way to attract and retain employees. Build an organisation that values sustainability and reduces carbon footprint.
Committing to energy management helps you instil a deep-rooted, company-wide culture of energy efficiency. Creating an energy awareness programme aimed at behavioural changes can be challenging. At least you don’t have to reinvent the wheel. Share your plans with relevant people across the organisation and convince a member of senior management to sponsor the programme. Support from the top is of the essence. Set aside time to make the programme successful. If possible, set time aside each week to evaluate progress. Take into consideration comments, queries, and suggestions. If not, chances are that people will lose interest. It’s the last thing you want.
All in all, reducing the amount of gas and electricity you use is the most effective way to cut down on your energy bills. Undoubtedly, one of the easiest ways to reduce your energy bills is to switch to a more affordable tariff. Find the right deal for you and make a move. Don’t pay more than you need for energy. An ever-increasing number of energy suppliers offer one or more green tariffs, so they can supply you with sources of energy that are naturally replenishing.
