Fall in love with some key energy saving tips this Valentine’s day!

According to the Energy Savings trust, the energy bill of a typical office based company could cost over 65% more than that of an equivalent energy efficient office. Below we have listed a few of our energy saving tips and advice for easy no cost ways to save energy, lower your bills and reduce your carbon footprint within your business. Keep an eye on our social media for more energy saving tips coming out in the next few weeks!

For heating, check your systems operating hours match the times when heating, ventilation and cooling are required as needs vary throughout the day and in different seasons. You should also observe your working patterns and ensure you make the relevant adjustments to your controls.

For heating and cooling you should set a dead band (a wide gap between the temperatures at which heating and cooling cut in) to avoid heating and cooling operations at the same time. In an office environment, the heating should switch off when a temperature of 19ºC has been reached and cooling should not come on until the temperature exceeds 24ºC. This sets a dead band of 5 degrees Celsius and offers 10% savings.

For your equipment, minimise cooling load by placing heat emitting equipment in a naturally ventilated area with good airflow. You should also switch off all equipment when not in use and enable power down modes. As well as clearly reducing the energy consumption, it also reduces the heat produced by equipment which in turn, lowers cooling costs. Equipment lifespan will also be extended and maintenance costs and risk of breakdown should be reduced.

To maximise lighting savings ensure you utilise natural daylight and have a switch off policy for staff to increase awareness. You could also consider using transparent shades or fittings, as a dark lampshade can absorb some of the light a bulb emits. Finally, wash your hands using the cold tap – by the time the hot tap has got hot water, you’ve finished washing your hands anyway, but you’ve emptied some hot water from the hot tank, with cold water going in to replace it – thus you trigger the boiler to warm it up. All you’ve done is warmed up the pipes in your house!