Energy saving tips for small businesses can make a meaningful difference to operational costs, especially in the current climate.. By following the tips below, businesses can make meaningful savings to their energy consumption and costs.
Conduct an energy review
Before making changes, it’s important to understand how and when your business uses energy. Reviewing meter readings regularly or analysing smart meter data can highlight peak usage times and identify areas of waste.
Even a simple internal energy review can reveal:
- Equipment left running outside working hours
- Heating or cooling operating unnecessarily
- Unusual spikes in consumption
Establishing a clear baseline makes it easier to measure the impact of any improvements you introduce.
The Carbon Trust’s Better business guide to energy saving provides a practical checklist for conducting an energy walk round and identifying common energy hotspots within commercial premises.
Monitor energy usage with smart meters
If your business has a smart meter, use the data available to you. Monitoring energy usage daily or weekly allows you to spot inefficiencies early and avoid unexpected costs.
Tracking patterns over time can also help you adjust opening hours, heating schedules or equipment usage to better match demand.
Ofgem explains how smart meters help small organisations understand their usage and reduce waste by providing real-time consumption data.
Upgrade equipment
Office equipment and machinery can use up a lot of energy, especially if the equipment is old and lacks the energy saving benefits that newer models provide. It’s worth conducting a review of your equipment – from computers to machinery and even kitchen appliances. Upgrading to energy efficient models can make a substantial difference to your business energy bills.
When purchasing new equipment, look for high efficiency ratings and energy-saving features that reduce long-term running costs.
Upgrade your boiler
Did you know that energy efficient boilers use up to 30% less energy than their less efficient counterparts? If your boiler is 10 years old or more, it’s worth considering an upgrade.
Regular servicing is equally important. A well-maintained heating system runs more efficiently and helps prevent avoidable energy waste.
Insulate your premises and reduce heat loss
Fuel costs can skyrocket if you’re losing heat via your building. It might cost you in the short term, but in the long run installing effective insulation will pay for itself.
Look at cavity wall and loft insulation, insulation around pipes and hot water tanks. Also consider installing double glazed windows if you don’t have them already, and draught proofing windows and doors throughout the premises.
Reducing heat loss is one of the most effective ways to cut long-term energy costs.
Take a look at your lighting
Switching to energy saving lightbulbs will save up to 80% less energy than standard bulbs. It’s also worth considering motion sensor technology that eliminates lighting when it isn’t needed, as this will dramatically reduce your business energy costs.
In addition, maximise natural daylight wherever possible. Keeping windows clean and positioning workspaces to benefit from natural light can reduce reliance on artificial lighting during working hours.
Review your air conditioning and heating settings
It’s easy to forget to adjust your heating and cooling settings as you move through the seasons. In the UK especially, with unpredictable weather, it’s worth regularly monitoring when your heating or air conditioning comes on and off and at what levels.
Often businesses will keep their heating systems on overnight, heating or cooling a space unnecessarily. It’s also worth looking at natural ways to preserve heat by closing windows and doors. Automatic closing doors are excellent for this.
Similarly, when it’s warmer, take advantage of milder weather and open windows and doors to help ventilation and cooling.
Improve business policies and processes
Do you have a process for shutting down equipment at the end of the night? A single computer monitor can save around £35 a year on electricity bills simply by being turned off at night.
Shared resources such as printers or hot water heaters are often overlooked and left on standby during non-working time. By improving the processes around how these energy intensive facilities are used and giving ownership to individuals to follow best practice, businesses can make meaningful savings.
Even small changes such as only heating as much water as is needed at any one time can make an impact.
Get your employees on board
It’s important to educate and involve your employees in all your energy saving initiatives. Having policies that employees can follow, perhaps with posters around the workspace reminding people of your initiatives, will ensure that your efforts are followed through.
You may even want to consider making it engaging by putting incentives in place for reaching sustainability targets.
Explore available support schemes
Depending on your location, there may be government or regional schemes offering funding or advice to help businesses improve energy efficiency.
Organisations such as the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) regularly publish sustainability guidance and practical resources for small businesses looking to reduce energy costs and improve efficiency.
Exploring available support can reduce upfront investment costs and make larger upgrades more accessible, particularly for insulation, heating upgrades or renewable technologies.
Check you’re on a competitive energy deal
While it’s been a challenging time for the energy sector lately, tariffs still change regularly. It’s worth reviewing your contract at regular intervals to ensure your business is on a suitable and competitive energy deal.
Even with strong efficiency measures in place, being on the right tariff plays a role in managing overall energy costs.
By implementing practical energy saving tips for small businesses, organisations can reduce waste, improve efficiency and create long-term cost stability.
If you’d like to speak to one of our experts about saving money on your energy bills, please contact us on 0800 6696697.
