Winter is almost upon us. How ready are you for the change of the season?
We are approaching the part of the year when nearly everything around us, from your house decor down to your wardrobe, needs a change and that doesn’t even cover most of it. The biggest part of this change might be your energy bills.
But what if we tell you it doesn’t have to be the case? In this blog, you can learn to prepare your business for the colder months by minimising energy consumption and costs.
Here are ten energy efficiency strategies you might want to consider.
1. Make use of natural lighting.
Let’s start with the easiest and most efficient to do because fortunately, it does not come with a cost. Get yourself access to some natural light inside your house or your building. Go open the door or crack open a window to invite some light in. Others would invest in putting a skylight on some parts of their premise which reduces the need for artificial lighting during the day. By keeping windows clean and using reflective surfaces it can also contribute to your overall energy savings.
2. Upgrade insulation and sealing.
One of the biggest challenges when the seasons change is the temperature. We are done with keeping our rooms cool. Now, it’s all about keeping us warm and cozy inside. Especially while we work. The key to maintaining a comfortable temperature throughout your work shift is proper building insulation.
Everyone in the UK seems to feel the pinch of skyrocketing energy prices. People think it’s the cost of fuel used during the cold season but in truth, it is the cause of poor insulation. An average UK home loses up to one-third of its total heat to poor insulation, so just imagine what it’s like if you own a big business.
So, make sure to check your wall, roof, and basement insulations and seal any gaps around windows and doors for drafts. It seems to be a very basic thing to check on in modern times unlike how it was back in the 1970s when it was first introduced. However, this upgrade can lead to significant savings on your heating bills.
3. Invest in Energy-Efficient Heating Systems
From the first development of the heating system in the late 18th century to the mid 19th Century, various developments have been made to the heating process, each to accommodate the ever-evolving modern culture. Now, your heating is considered outdated if you still do not use energy-efficient heating system models. These types of heating systems use less energy to heat your space and mostly have programmable thermostats so that you can regulate the temperature based on your time of need.
When it comes to maintaining these types of machines, the furnace and heat pump filters need cleaning once a month or as needed. Also, you should clean the flue vent of wood and pellet-burning heaters along with the inside of the appliance to ensure that it is heating efficiently.
4. Utilise Smart Technology
With the evolving technological advancements, it is always a good idea to follow the forecasting trends. Smart technology is a big help when it comes to tracking the way to learning all the energy-efficient strategies. For example, there the smart thermostats that can learn your heating preferences and adjust them accordingly.
Sensors are also something that people have been looking into wherein occupancy of rooms can be detected to have the lighting and heating automatically adjusted. How cool is that!
5. Implement LED Lighting
This one goes for the big holiday in winter. Christmas! This is where you would have to put up a tree with all those Christmas lights and probably more lights all over the place to encourage the Christmas cheer even at work. But extra lights mean extra cost. Switching to LED lighting is one of the simplest ways to solve that challenge.
LED lights have a longer life span and are most cost-efficient compared to traditional bulbs. You should also be using them for all of your lights in your business premises to reduce not only electricity bills but also maintenance costs.
6. Educate Your Staff
It takes the whole team to run a good business. So, make sure that you along with your staff have the same vision for the company. This not only goes for the technicalities of each person’s job description but also about the policies you want to impose in preparation for seasonal changes.
You should make sure that all your employees adhere to the same energy-saving efforts you would for your company. Make sure they are in the know on small habits that make big impacts on energy efficiency like turning off the lights when not in use, adjusting thermostats, and reporting drafts or heating issues.
7. Create a Winter Maintenance Plan
Regular maintenance is always something you should put a high priority on your list when it comes to wanting to maintain efficiency. You should get this done at least a few times each year and a priority during the start of the winter season. This keeps everything in place when the cold weather hits.
8. Explore Renewable Energy Options
In our day and age, there are various types of renewable energy options that you can choose from. Just like installing a solar pv system for example wherein long-term savings make the cost of a system all worth it.
9. Monitor and Adjust
Now that you have your policies and all you’re checklist in place, we now try to monitor this to see if it’s an ideal change for the long run. Try to check whether this is a good pattern for you and your billing cycle. Then you just make adjustments here and there to keep evolving into an energy-conscious business.
10. Conduct an Energy Audit
Now, that you have tried all those things above and you are still not achieving your green goals, it might be best to look and seek help from professionals in this field and get the most effective advice that you can get on your heating systems, insulation, and lighting.
This enables you to make sure that they are assessed using the correct tools and provides a great roadmap to follow for improvements in areas where energy is being wasted which has a great impact on your bills.
By prioritising energy efficiency, you’re not just preparing for winter; you’re setting your business up for success all year round.
Contact us at Lumina Energy for energy-saving advice, help with your energy contracts and carbon reduction plans.
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