Energy costs are by far the most unpredictable costs that you’ll struggle with when you’re running your small business. According to Energy Star stats, if you run a small business, then you’re part of the people who have to spend an estimated $60 billion to keep the lights on. Most of this energy will be consumed by your business’ electricity requirements.
Knowing the most effective ways to help reduce your business energy consumption is crucial. It should help you reduce your energy costs. Moreover, it should provide you with solutions that should change how you use energy. A Modular Home can help aide in this process.
Read on to learn more about the most practical ways to reduce your business energy consumption.
1. Do an Energy Audit
You’d be surprised to find out how much doing an energy audit can benefit your business’ energy consumption. It’s the most effective way to determine a baseline for the energy that your business needs. Most importantly, it gives you efficient solutions to help with saving energy.
The great news is that you can receive a free audit from most of your local electric utility companies. You can get a professional to conduct a thorough inspection that should assess any leaks, insulation problems, and any other related issues. It’s highly advisable for you to find out if the audit that your company does will be free or not.
2. Decrease Peak Demand
Did you know that there are hours during the day when your energy usage reaches an all-time high? Reducing the peak demand in your business should be one of the effective ways for you to save and decrease your energy consumption. Since the peak demand can be calculated from anytime when you open your office to the end of your business day, it can be difficult to narrow this time to a specific hour.
The best way to reduce your energy consumption demand is through doing the following.
Running heavy equipment
Turning off unused lights and equipment
Unplugging appliances
Fix air leaks
3. Avoid Phantom Energy
Have you ever wondered what happens to energy when you leave appliances and equipment plugged in but not in use? It still gets used. This is how phantom energy is a known concept.
Having your computer peripherals such as monitors and printers connected to surge protectors should help you prevent phantom energy usage in your office space.
4. Automate Your Heating and Cooling
The good thing about technology is that you can program just about anything nowadays. To maximize your low energy usage needs, you should consider using a smart thermostat system. This is one of the ways that you can help your 9-5 office to manage its energy-efficiency.
You can manage the heating and cooling easier this way without worrying about when it should be done.
5. Think of the Exterior
Sometimes, you should have a better idea of how external factors such as landscaping in your office building affect your energy consumption. If you have control of such important things, you can weigh in on using energy-efficient landscaping to strategically improve how your business consumes energy.