5 Reasons Your Energy Bill Might Be Too High
There might be a few people in America who don’t worry about their rising energy bills, but we’re yet to
There might be a few people in America who don’t worry about their rising energy bills, but we’re yet to
There might be a few people in America who don’t worry about their rising energy bills, but we’re yet to meet them. In most cases, business owners are paying too much for energy but they rarely have time to find out why or how to reduce the costs. Here are five reasons your energy bills might be too high.
You know that printer in the conference room that rarely gets used? It’s using energy even when not in use. So is the presentation TV and the surge protector. The microwave in the break room, that’s also using energy – even when it’s off. Vampire appliances or vampire equipment use small amounts of electricity even when not being used or worse, even when powered off. A little here, a little there and it adds up to about 10% of your energy bill. Want to know how to spot a vampire appliance? Here is a simple trick you can use.
A solution to managing most vampire equipment is to plug the equipment into a power strip, and turn the power strip off when the equipment is not in use.
Detecting and managing what equipment uses the most energy is a good way to reduce energy bills. When we look at what office equipment uses the most amount of energy the answer goes two ways. Per a recent energy star report, printers and imaging equipment use the most energy out of any other office equipment:
“Approximately seven million copiers are now in use in US homes and businesses, and over 1.5 million new ones are sold each year. Copiers are the most energy-intensive type of office equipment. Because they waste energy sitting idle for several hours each day, there is great potential to improve their energy efficiency.”
That same report shows that computers are the fastest growing energy users:
“Computer equipment is the fastest growing electric load in the business world. In fact, energy use by computers could double by the year 2000.”
Next to copiers and computers, space heaters are also a source of increased energy bills. A little space heater costs you almost two times the energy that it takes to run your refrigerator.
When working to increase energy-efficiency, it’s important to manage unused office equipment with power strips and try and reduce equipment that is not in used or not needed.
If you’re building has more than five HVAC or air conditioning units, there is a chance that one or more of them are not functioning properly. Air conditioning and heating already account for a large portion of your energy bills; in-operational air conditioning and heating equipment accounts for even more.
Here are 6 signs your air conditioner may be in-operational and what you can do about it.
As more and more equipment becomes mobile, more and more equipment needs charging. But when at a desk, it’s common practice to keep them plugged in all day. A good example are lap tops and mobile phones that may stay on a workers desk, plugged in all day. This isn’t only bad for your energy bill, it’s in fact also bad for the devices battery.
Using old office equipment could be one of the biggest sources of wasted energy and high energy bills. Not only does old equipment malfunction and use more energy, but energy efficiency wasn’t programmed into it; be it copiers, printers, refrigerators, computers, telephones, TVs, microwaves and pretty much any equipment or appliance. As equipment advances and as technology advances, it continuously moves in the direction of less moving parts, more digital and, most importantly, less energy use. If your equipment is so much as 3-5 years old, there’s a chance that new equipment exists that can produce better results with less energy.
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