You know what it’s like when the nights start to draw in – colleagues start to reach for the light switches earlier in the day, dial up the heat, and your workplace’s energy bills take the hit. Not to mention your carbon footprint and environmental impact.
But your bills don’t have to spiral out of control. There are lots of things you can do to make sure your business isn’t wasting energy and money this winter.
1. Ask staff to ‘switch off’ lights and equipment when not needed
With fewer hours of daylight, staff are going to turn the lights on earlier in the day – and this costs money. In fact, lighting can account for as much as 50% of electricity bills for some businesses.
A quick way to save energy is to make sure lights and equipment aren’t left on in rooms that aren’t being used, including offices, meeting rooms, storage cupboards, toilets and other infrequently occupied spaces. It makes sense, but we must all be guilty of leaving a light or a screen on by accident at one time or another. It’s easy to forget.
So, grab your copy of these free posters and stickers and run a ‘switch off campaign’ that will encourage your colleagues to switch off lights and equipment when they are not needed.
2. Label your light switches
It’s the end of the day, you’re about to head home, but when you go to turn off the lights in your area, you’re met with a row of switches on the wall. Which switch is for your area, and which one will leave your colleagues in darkness?
If you’re like most people, you probably won’t take the risk of making the wrong choice and just head straight out of the door, leaving all the lights on until the last person leaves.
This is a common occurrence in businesses and a big waste of energy. However, we have a simple solution for you – just label your light switches. This free template will help you do it.
3. Get your lighting for free, by using natural daylight
Making use of natural daylight instead of having lights on is one of the best things you can do to save money and be energy efficient. While this might seem obvious, you’d be surprised at the number of businesses that have their lights on in broad daylight.
So, open your blinds, clear off your windowsills, hose down your skylights and let the free light shine in. It’s not only your energy bills that will feel the difference. Natural daylight helps improve productivity and has the added bonus of improving the overall wellbeing of your staff.
4. Upgrade your lighting (with an interest-free loan with cashback grant)
OK, this isn’t exactly a small change or something you are going to be able to do overnight, but if you have older types of lighting, the sooner you upgrade to newer technologies, such as LEDS, the quicker you’ll start saving and stop wasting profits.
Installing LEDs is one of the most common measures businesses are undertaking to reduce energy costs – with the potential to cut energy bills by 75%, you can see why the technology is so popular.
If you’re a small or medium-sized enterprise, and you’re not sure if your lighting should be upgraded, please get in touch. Our team is here to help with free support and advice. They’ll also be able to help you apply for an interest-free SME loan with cashback grant (while available) from the Scottish Government to help you make the change.
5. Change the timer on your heating system
Unless you have a modern heating system with a clock that automatically updates, don’t forget to change the timer clocks on your heating system. Otherwise, you’ll be wasting energy, and your hard-earned profits, needlessly heating your premises for an extra hour every morning when your staff aren’t even there.
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