I think we can all agree, if energy bills disappeared from the face of the earth, we wouldn’t lose much sleep over it. Sadly, however, they’re here to stay, which means we have to do everything that we can as businesses to reduce the size of that bill that arrives every month. The bill that most affects businesses nationwide is generally electricity. This is especially true for those companies that run operations in high energy usage industries. Whatever the case, the following article will give you food for thought on how you can reduce your energy bills.
Reduce the amount of printing
When you think of printing costs, you generally wouldn’t think of your electricity bill, but in reality, printers use a substantial amount of electricity in general operation. Of course, other costs associated with printing like ink and paper and a huge financial burden too, but electricity does need to be taken into account.
Most companies have no already made a full or partial switch to the cloud in some area of their business, but if you just make one, document storage should be it. No longer do we need endless filing cabinets that take years to sift through. Cloud storage allows you to access documents from wherever you feel necessary. If you’re on the go and forget an important document, cloud storage will allow you to access it on the go. Cheaper and much more convenient.
Switch to LED light bulbs
Thousands of offices across the country, especially those within older buildings, are still equipped with the not-so-state-of-the-art incandescent bulbs that use a huge amount of electricity in comparison to present technology. Switching to LED bulbs and fixtures will considerably reduce the amount of electricity that you use on lighting, between 75-90% to be (not so) exact. Considering the average office electricity bill is made up of around 25% lighting, this could save you a huge amount of money. Definitely worth taking a look at considering the small price of light bulbs.
Switch your energy tariff
It may seem like a bit of an alien concept, switching your gas and electricity tariffs, but it’s now a reality across much of the world. In the United States, Canada, most of Europe and various other places across the world, switching your gas and electricity tariffs is one of the best way to save on your bills, period.
Switching is not as difficult or as time consuming as you may perhaps think. All you need is a bit of basic information regarding your business, your current tariff and perhaps your meter and supply number. Businesses are in an even better position than households, as generally they are much higher users, which means that you’re in a much better position to negotiate. Once you have found a desired tariff, it’s advisable to give said supplier a call to try and reduce the price just a little bit further for your custom.
Make some of your own electricity
This can be seen as more of a future investment, as solar panels and such equipment can be quite costly initially. The rewards, however, are more than worth it. Buying into solar panels doesn’t necessarily mean that you have to go the whole hog and replace your entire electricity supply with your own generation: it is possible for you to just generation some of your supply. That said, however, the more that you invest the more you return you are going to see in the future and the better it will be for the finances of your company.
In some countries, governments have put schemes into place to promote the self-generation of electricity through renewable means. In the United Kingdom, for example, the government introduced the ‘Feed-In Tariff’ (FIT), which means that you will receive a monthly payment for the amount of electricity that you generate and use, and another for the excess that you send back to the grid.
Don’t worry about not having electricity in times of low light, such as at night: all you need to do is buy a storage battery that will simultaneously charge up through the day, meaning you have a supply that can be used whenever you need it. This will obviously be another added cost, but a small one in comparison to the full cost.
