10 Ways to Reduce Your Business’ Energy Bills

2. TURN OFF LIGHTS & EQUIPMENT THAT ARE NOT BEING USED

We don’t want to overstate the obvious but you would be surprised at how much electricity gets wasted just by this one small point. The bigger your office, the more energy you waste.

Conference rooms, bathrooms, lunch rooms and many offices have the lights on all day even when not occupied. But it’s not just lights. Computers, monitors, printers & copy machines, even coffee machines and microwaves in the lunch room. A lot of appliances use energy even while not being used. We call these vampire appliances (read How To Detect Vampire Appliances). 

A simple way to reduce your office energy bills is to plug all these appliances into a power strip and before leaving the office, making it a routine to turn off all the lights and all the power strips. 

3. TAKE ADVANTAGE OF NATURAL SUNLIGHT

Depending on where you work, your building gets about 6-12 hours of sunlight. Taking advantage of this by opening the blinds and keeping the lights turned off, or maybe half the lights turned on, can help you reduce your energy bills. Where possible, skylights are also a great way to capture natural light while adding a fantastic element of design. If you have a roof where a skylight could be an option, consider installing a Fakro DRF DU6 Flat Roof Access Skylight to further maximize the natural light and ventilation in your space.

4. CHANGE YOUR LIGHT BULBS

In most office buildings, lights consume a big portion of the monthly energy bills. 

Although much cheaper to buy, regular light bulbs only emit about 10-20% of the energy they use to make actual light. The other 80-90% if used to create the heat needed to make the light. 

By switching your office lights to compact fluorescent lights (CFLs) or light-emitting diode lights (better known as LEDs) can cut your energy bills by up to 30%. CFL and LED lights can also last up to 10 times longer than regular light bulbs, also saving you money in the long run. 

5. INSTALL MOTION DETECTORS AND LIGHT DIMMERS

Most office buildings use motion sensors in common areas and bigger offices that turn off the lights when there is a lack of motion for a specific amount of time. Using these motion detectors to manage your lights in common areas is a great way to reduce energy waste. 

Light dimmers can be used in conjunction with natural light to control how much light you want your light bulbs to emit. You don’t always need all the lights on at that maximum output. Using lower dimmer settings during the day and higher dimmer settings during the evening can help you save money on energy. 

6. PROGRAM YOUR THERMOSTAT 

This is another obvious one but it has to be mentioned because many offices have programmed thermostats but then individually employees, finding it cold or hot, manually adjust the temperature throwing the thermostat temporarily off it’s programmed schedule. To maximize energy efficiency from your A/C, it’s important to find a comfortable temperature that everyone can agree on and then ensuring no one changes the programmed settings. 

7. TREAT YOUR WINDOWS AND DOORS

With age, windows and doors start to let in little bits of air from outside. And while you may not think much of it, a little bit adds up and before you know it you’re A/C is working that much harder and your monthly energy bill jumps by 10%. But because it happens slowly and overtime, it’s hard to notice and you generally wouldn’t think your windows and doors are the cause. Running new sealer along windows edges can help to keep your A/C from overworking.

Earlier we mentioned using natural light to light rooms and how that can help save you money. When it’s very hot outside and the sun is shinning, this may have the reverse effect so it’s important to judge this according to the weather. Windows and glass doors, also let in heat from the sunlight. Some solutions that you can use include energy efficient window tint, solar screens or window shades and awnings. 

8. USE ENERGY EFFICIENT OFFICE EQUIPMENT 

Now-a-days most office equipment is build with energy efficiency in mind. Never the less, when you are buying a new printer, copy machine or even computer. Look for the ENERGY STAR logo. Energy star equipment is designed to use as little energy as possible and in most cases is designed to power down during periods of inactivity. Older office equipment can use a lot of energy all day long. If you still have equipment we suggest swapping it out for newer energy efficient models. 

In one case, an office was able to reduce their energy costs by almost 50% just by getting all new energy efficient office equipment. 

9. MAKE THE SWITCH TO SOLAR IF YOU CAN

There’s nothing like not having a monthly energy bill. Complete energy independence. Many states offer great incentives and even tax rebates to help businesses and residents switch to solar power. Thanks to a booming solar industry and a high demand for green and renewable energy, installing solar power has become completely affordable. Many financial options also give business owners several great ways to fund it. And, even though solar requires an initial investment, in almost all cases the amount you pay back each month is less than you were previously paying for energy each month.