How to avoid a scary energy bill this Halloween

Tips and How-ToEnergy Efficiency 15th October 2023

With pockets of sunshine still, mixed in with rain, wind and even storms we are officially in Autumn and with the clocks going back to the countdown to Christmas has begun. But we’re not quite there yet, so let’s keep the ‘C’ word very quiet for now.

In the meantime, there is one little holiday that comes first, and at the moment in the current market energy prices and bills feel scarier than ever before. This is why we want to look at what actions you can take to help your energy costs.

Make changing your energy supplier a treat, not a trick
We get it – change is scary. You might have been with your current supplier for years and a lot of the time we discover when talking to customers the reasons they haven’t changed is time. Finding the time to look at all the bills, paperwork and see what other options there are.

The market is volatile right now, energy prices are higher than ever before and so finding a more cost-effective option isn’t as easy as it once was, however that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t look and see what it out there. Plus, there is also other options, like Water to consider as well. More on this below.

Don’t be put off by a scary experience

Some of you will have had bad experiences with energy consultants in the past – they kept you hanging on the phone, didn’t keep you updated or maybe ghosted you altogether. At Lumina Energy, we’re here to remove the hassle and help your business by providing a professional and dedicated service. When you call, you will be directed immediately to our team of helpful Energy Consultants who will discuss your business energy needs, what you’re looking for and how we can help provide a solution.

Effective energy saving tricks

There are some simple tricks you can do around your business to significantly reduce your energy usage and subsequently affect your energy spend. For example, taking monthly meter readings and switching off unused electrical appliances. However, the biggest results come from larger changes:

Reviewing Available Capacity

Available Capacity is the amount of electricity (measured in kVA) made available to a site by the Distribution Network Operator (DNO) for Half-Hourly supplies. If a site exceeds the set capacity, additional charges are applied. It is common for a business’ peak demand to be much lower than its Available Capacity (kVA) set by the DNO. This means that businesses have been paying for capacity they are not using. At Lumina Energy, we can help you review your current capacity and identify any excess capacity costs.

Reviewing historic invoices

Supplier invoicing errors are often missed or forgotten about which can add up to unnecessary costs to your business. It is important to look back and check if your business is owed any money. We appreciate however, that this can be quite a time-consuming task for busy business owners. We provide a service of reviewing historic utility accounts up to a period of five years on your behalf to identify any money that is owed to you.

LED lighting

It is reported that LED lighting has the potential to reduce your energy consumption by 75% and the lights themselves last up to 25 times as long as regular halogen bulbs. Switching to energy efficient light bulbs could dramatically reduce your energy consumption, saving you a large sum of money which could be used to reinvest into your business. We can help you identify your current carbon footprint to then make informed decisions when it comes to your carbon reduction. Find out more here.

Water

Another (often overlooked) entity is your water supply. Does your business use urinals with an automatic flush for example? Switching the automatic setting off for when the office is closed could make a huge difference in your energy savings. Other ways to reduce your water spend is by installing push or automatic touch sensor taps which are more energy efficient.