How Businesses Can Use Less Electricity

When it comes to running a business, there are lots of different costs that are required to be paid in order to be able to operate. Whilst these are necessary, it does not necessarily mean that there is nothing that you can do in order to minimise them as much as possible. In fact, there are a number of different ways in which businesses both big and small can lower their overheads. One way of doing this is by limiting or reducing the amount of electricity that they use on a daily basis. Not only is this good for a business’s bottom line, but it also has the secondary benefit that it is good for the environment also.

Some of the easiest yet most effective ways in which businesses can use less electricity, whilst still remaining as productive as ever are listed below.

Perform An Energy Audit

There are companies out there that can come into a business and perform a full audit of a business from head to toe, looking at how and where energy is used, and then make recommendations on where to save it. Whilst this can be expensive and so not for every business; as a cheaper alternative, there are numerous energy suppliers that actually offer a very similar service to this completely free of charge.

Switch Off Machinery / Equipment

When a business is shut down for an extended period of time, such as weekends, national holidays and even at night, it is important to ensure that any equipment and / or machinery that is not in use is switched off at the mains plug socket. In an office environment, this includes things like vending machines, air conditioning units, lights, microwaves, scanners, printers, computers etc. The reason for this is because even though they are not being used, whilst ever they are plugged in, they still use energy and although only a small amount, this can really add up over time – especially where lots of machinery and equipment is plugged in.

Encourage Staff To Be Energy Efficient

For those businesses that employ a large number of staff, they can benefit greatly from getting them to become more conscious about the electricity that they are using themselves. For instance, encourage them to use the stairs instead of the lift or put the right amount of water in the kettle for what they need rather than filling it eight up. Although all small changes, if they are done by enough staff and every day that they are at work, it really can make a difference to a business using less electricity.

Make Use Of Natural Light

Whilst electricity powered lights of course consumes energy (some more than others), natural lighting does not. For this reason, businesses should attempt to fully maximize the amount of natural light that they use by putting in skylights and large windows wherever they can. Artificial lights should be restricted only for use in those dark areas that really need it or when working at night.

Allow Staff To Work From Home

Although not every business can have its staff working from home, for those ones that can, doing so is a really effective way of reducing electricity consumption, and thui operating costs for a business. This is because the fewer people that there are in the office, factory, workshop, the less demand that there is being put on various items of equipment or machinery that use electricity. For instance, if staff are working from home using their own computer, then a business does not have to have a computer powered on working away all day in the office. The same is true for printers, mobiles phones, desk fans, or anything else that they would be using whilst at work.

Use Energy Efficient Items

Changing office machinery and equipment to newer ones that are generally more energy efficient will mean that a business will end up using much less electricity over the course of a year. However, these changes should only be done if the current piece of equipment or machinery is in need of replacing. That being said, when it comes to changing light bulbs, then this can be done at any time, as using the more energy efficient LED ones can have a significant impact and are relatively cheap. 

Whilst doing any and all of the above things will mean that a business uses less electricity, if they are really set on saving money on their energy bills, they need to take a look at the latest Business electricity prices here. It is likely to be the case that they find a better rate for the electricity that they use and can move over to a cheaper one instead. For those businesses looking to improve their green credentials, there are lots of providers generating green electricity.