On any given day, we receive numerous inquiries with regard to how enterprises can successfully reduce their energy consumption without disrupting day-to-day operations and productivity. This isn’t too surprising, especially considering the fact that energy often accounts for a bulk of a business’s spending each month. Consequently, executives crave answers about how to lower their average utility expenses and reduce their carbon footprint in such a way that the company is able to run as smoothly and efficiently as ever. But is this even possible? The answer is yes — if you’re smart about it. This post will cover a few methods for maintaining work productivity with a fraction of the electricity.
1. Limit Your Lighting
Yes, your employees need to be able to see in order to work, but that doesn’t mean that every light within your organization needs to be switched on at all times. In fact, cutting back on the amount of lighting that you’re using is the simplest and most effective way to lower your energy bills. Consider the areas of your offices and/or warehouses that don’t require constant lighting. Consider switching the lights off in these locations except on an as-needed basis, or install motion-sensors. Over time, these small tweaks will make a huge difference. In addition to this, you can save even more money by opening up window blinds and taking advantage of free, natural sunlight during daylight hours.
2. Heat and Cool Intelligently
Heating, cooling, and ventilation costs are another major expense for enterprises. Although you don’t want your team to work in an uncomfortable environment, there are ways to intelligently scale down your energy usage in these areas. Keep in mind that there are always certain areas within a building that simply don’t require as much heating or cooling as others. Simply closing the vents or switching to a zoning system can enable you to control where energy is being expended, thus shaving down your monthly bills.
3. Kill Energy Vampires
Just because an electronic appliance is turned off doesn’t mean that it isn’t still sucking energy. These “energy vampires” will continue to consume your precious energy so long as they are plugged into an outlet. This includes phone/tablet chargers, computers, manufacturing machines, and more. Consider plugging devices into a power strip so that you can simply cut off power to the main strip at the end of the day and stop these energy suckers from wreaking their havoc after-hours.
4. Think Ahead
Taking a look at the forecast can help your HVAC systems to run more efficiently and effectively, thus saving you a lot of money in the long run. Did the weather channel predict that you’ll be faced with an extremely hot afternoon? The smart thing to do is to combat the temperature early on in the day. Set your thermostat lower than usual at the beginning of the day, raising the temperature only in the early afternoon. The process of pre-cooling the business will allow you to take advantage of “off-peak” energy consumption hours and rates while sill ensuring that your facility will remain cool and comfortable all day long. In the event that you need to run the AC again during the day, turn the system on and off manually, as it will use less energy than keeping the thermostat on “auto.”
Although every enterprise is different, you’ll find that sometimes it’s the simplest measures that go the longest way in reducing your energy consumption and spending. While these four tips will get you started, there are many other ways to lower your costs. Reach out to the Nuenergen experts today to start learning more about how to save energy and money.
