What can you do to reduce your energy costs?

Energy prices are soaring; however, you can’t start reducing your energy costs if you don’t know where you are currently spending money on energy in your business. To start, you need to conduct an energy audit. The purpose of an energy audit is to identify the areas in your business where energy use is particularly high and where there may be opportunities to reduce energy usage and therefore, costs. Some energy suppliers offer energy audits for free as part of their business offering, so it’s worth checking with your current supplier to see if they offer this service.

There are currently over 60 energy suppliers operating with the UK energy market. As such, it is worth shopping around to see if you can get a better deal. Switching energy suppliers only takes a few weeks and it can be a good way to obtain a better rate on your electricity or gas.

You can also reduce your energy costs by making small changes such as replacing incandescent lightbulbs with LED lightbulbs. LEDs use around 70% less energy than equivalent incandescent bulbs and they last much longer too. If you have some older electrical appliances in your business, such as printers, tills, signage, etc. it is worth changing them for more energy efficient models when they are at the end of their life and need to be replaced. If you are replacing any electrical equipment, try to buy those that have a good energy rating with A+++ being the most energy efficient.

Most businesses will have some sort of heating system in their premises. Installing a programmable thermostat is one of the easiest ways to reduce your heating costs. With a programmable thermostat you can ensure that the heating or air conditioning is off when the office is empty (after hours or at weekends).

Investing in better insulation is another good way to reduce your business’s energy costs. In well-insulated buildings, less warm air escapes during the winter and less cool air escapes during the summer.

Invest some time in training your staff to be more mindful of energy costs. Over time, encouraging everyone to make a few small changes can add up to significant energy cost savings for your business.

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