Five things to do when the clocks go back this weekend
Remembering to do these things now, will help you make sure your business isn’t wasting energy and money. And to help you, our advisers have come up with a handy reminder of five key actions – with signposts to some free resources to help you along the way, including a range of free posters and stickers for your workplace.
1. 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.
2. Encourage staff to switch off lights when they’re not needed
Darker nights mean staff reach for light switches earlier in the day – and this costs money. In fact, for some businesses, lighting can account for as much as 50% of their electricity bill.
A quick way to save energy is to make sure lights aren’t burning 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 the light on by accident at one time or another, it’s easy to forget.
To help you encourage and remind your staff to switch off lights when they are not needed, you’ll find our website has everything you need. Starting with a range of professionally designed downloadable posters, stickers and web graphics that are ideal for running a successful ‘switch-off’ campaign in your business.
3. Make the best use of available daylight
Open your blinds, clean your windows and clear your sills of all those boxes ‘to be filed away’. You might be surprised at how much difference this makes and perhaps you won’t need to turn your lights on quite so early after all.
4. Label light switches
You’re leaving work and go to switch off the lights in the area where you were sitting. But, you’re faced with a bank of light switches on the wall. Which switch is for your area, and which light will plunge your colleagues into darkness?
Like many people, you’ll probably just head out of the door, leave all the lights on, and let the last person out switch them all off.
This is a common reason for energy being wasted, but it can be easily solved by simply labelling your light switches. This free template is all you need to do it.
5. Upgrade your lighting (with an interest-free loan)
Ok, you’re not going to be able to do this overnight, but if you are running older lighting, the sooner you upgrade, the quicker you’ll start saving and the sooner you’ll stop wasting profits.
Lighting technology has come on a long way in recent years and offers lots of money-saving opportunities. For example, upgrading to LEDs can slash 75% off lighting bills – it could be the simplest thing you do all year to pocket some extra profit.
The latest sensor technology can also help you rid your workplace of lights being left on when they are not needed, particularly in areas like corridors, stairways and cupboards.
If you’re a small or medium sized enterprise, and you’re not sure if your lighting should be upgraded, please speak to one of our advisors. Their help is free. They can look, do the sums and tell you if your lighting should be upgraded. They’ll also be able to help you apply for an interest-free loan from the Scottish Government to help you make the change.
Enjoy your extra hour at the weekend. And hopefully, by following these simple pointers, you’ll soon be enjoying a greener workplace too.
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