Save Energy, Make Money

In any sector of business saving energy means making money. Whether those savings be made by remembering to turn lights and appliances off when not in use, by using energy efficient appliances or by installing sustainable energy generators in your workplace, you will soon reap the benefits financially.

This means that at work (and in the home too) saving energy should be as much a part of business practice as, for instance, maintaining a polite and professional relationship with your customers!

In fact, it essentially amounts to same thing as if you are not doing your best to protect the environment you are effectively putting the welfare of yourself your staff and your customers at risk – and this is something that your customers are increasingly aware of.

Save the Planet and Watch Your Profit Grow

It does not take a rocket scientists to figure out that energy bills go up in the winter due to heating costs, or at other peak times of consumption during the year (in the autumn due to manufacturing ahead of Christmas, in the Summer due to costs associated with air conditioning, for example). Thus the key to saving energy resides in an ability to monitor falls and rises in consumption and to work out how best to curb usage at peak times of the year.

Following this, other ways in which energy is being wasted can be ascertained by watching working practices and by checking your buildings for signs of draft and poor insulation. When you have done this it is time to put a plan in place that carefully records your current energy use against projected energy use if you were to make changes.

For example, if you know that an appliance uses x kW/h in electricity, and that it used for y amount of hours, you can simply gauge how much electricity may be saved by comparing an energy efficient appliance when used for less hours (due to more efficient working practice, hence less wastage). Therefore savings will equal:

.x kW/h in electricity X (multiplied by) y hours of usage minus x1 kW/h in electricity X y1 hours of usage.

By calculating savings in this way you can ascertain how long it will take each new piece of machinery to make back its cost, and to then to start making you a profit by calculating your hourly savings in terms of the above equation and dividing the total cost of your new appliance by that amount.

A similar process can be undertaken in ascertaining how much you will save by insulating your business premises and by installing renewable energy sources (see related articles). There are also tax incentives for those wishing to buy new energy efficient equipment (again, see related article: 'Financial Help').

Simple changes can be made simply by remembering to turn lights and radiators off when necessary, by setting your thermostat on a timer so that heating is best utilised when needed and by putting all office equipment on a timer to ensure that it is not left on overnight.