If you are running an office or a shop, I’m sure you aware that your gas and electricity expenses hog pretty much of your hard-earned money. This blog post can shed some light on how to reduce your energy bills – almost instantly.
I was a franchisee of two franchise units. They are business service centers, running computers, printing machines, photocopiers, and so on – everything needs electricity. Did you know how much my energy expenses was compared to my biz’ total expenses? 40 percent. And that figure, my friend, is playing its role in bringing down my business – seriously.
I wish I was smarter when it comes to energy bills reduction. But hey – lessons well learned, although a bit late.
Regardless of the reason behind your endeavour in reducing energy expenses – cutting costs, going green, and so on – I figure that you need some practical tips you can do immediately, today. Here they are:
1. Switch to another energy supplier
It’s probably the simplest thing you can do today. Just visit an independent energy comparison site, like EnergyHelpLine, and for a quote, they will recommend you different energy plans you can choose – unbiased. You can save hundreds – even thousands – of dollars a year, depending on the energy usage level of your business.
2. Turn off everything – lighting, PCs and laptops, printers, etc. – when you are away
Sounds simple, but people are often too lazy to do it. They would normally leave their computers on standby (and light on) and leave their desk to do some other tasks and errands. Turning this into a habit will save aplenty (how $40-50 per year per user sounds?)
3. Unplug unused devices and equipments
If there are some appliances and equipments you rarely use in your business premise – your mobile chargers, printers and so on, just unplug them from the power strip – leaving them plugged is actually draining energy uselessly.
4. Use natural light more
While replacing light bulbs to compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) works instantly, you do need to invest some amount of money. Well, what you can do today is to turn off that lamp and use daylight as much as you can.
5. Go paperless – reduce waste and save energy
Not only reducing paper waste, going paperless will reduce the energy usage of your printers. It is much easier than you think – you can do it right here, right now: Need something to print? Just print on both side of paper. Better yet, don’t print anything – just use emails, e-faxes and other digital document solutions. Need to sign papers? Just upload your document file and have it digitally signed via online services like HelloSign.
6. Use natural heating and cooling
Your air conditioners and heaters are power hogger; reduce the usage of air conditioners by incorporating ceiling fan to spread air across the room without turning on all ACs you have; closed doors so the room keeps cool or simply open the window and let nature helps you solve your problem.
During summer, just close shades in early morning and late evening. During winter, do it the other way around – open shades when there is sunlight.
7. Don’t use vending machines for office snacks
Food and drinks keep us going during work days. However, using vending machines will also keep your electricity expenses going during work days… avoid using vending machines or snack dispensers – they are, too, power hogger.
Takeaway
Those ideas are not extraordinary; they are easy to do, and although each item will only save you a little, do them as a campaign will save your business plenty of money on energy expenses.
What’s challenging is changing the habit of your staffs. Perhaps you might want to offer incentive for staffs who are doing the right thing in keeping your business’ electricity and gas expenses manageable. Whichever methods you choose, it’s worth the trouble.
Any tips on how to get things rolling with your staffs? Please share your energy saving tips…
Ivan Widjaya
More cost saving, less headache :)