Saving big on utility bills with small steps

Decreasing electricity costs can bring considerable savings for businesses – both big and small. If you too are looking for bringing down your utility bills, these small steps can help:

• Turn off all your non-essential office equipment, signage, indoor/outdoor lighting, and window displays not in use.
• Shut all decorative features, like video displays, fountains, ambient audio and lighting when not required.
• Set up meeting times during peak periods to minimize equipment usage.
• Set thermostats at 68°F in the winter for heating and 78°F in the summer for cooling.
• Get your thermostats fitted with locking covers to prevent temperature settings being tampered by employees.
• Regularly clean the condenser coils, HVAC and AC units, and perform maintenance tasks like replacing air filters, damaged pipes and ducts etc.
• Close shades, curtains, and blinds during weekends and unoccupied periods of the day as well as at night, to reduce cooling and heating costs as such steps can help maintain comfortable room temperature.
• Consider using reflectors and doing away with excess fluorescent lights. Using lighter colored walls that need less light is also a good option to lower your electric bills.
• Use motion detectors to manage lighting in common areas that are unoccupied for most of the time, like the restrooms.
• Retrofit fluorescent or incandescent exit signs with low-energy, long-lasting, LED exit signs.
• Clean dusty lamps and diffusers every 6-12 months for better lumen output.
• Use pre-cooling, load-cycling, and temperature reset for work areas to bring down your electricity costs.
• Turn off your beverage vending machines when not in use, and plan using ice makers after or before the peak hours.
• Charge battery-operated equipment and batteries prior to the peak hours.
• During the peak hours, use only pre-charged equipment, and refrain from plugging in the battery chargers.
• Plan employee shifts and schedules to ensure that the times of increased energy use or production happen after or before the peak hours.
• Decrease drafts by adding weather stripping, foam or caulking around doors and windows.
• Adjust door latches, set up auto-closers, replace worn door gaskets, and add strip curtains to freezer doors and walk-in refrigerators.
• Opt for ENERGY STAR models when purchasing monitors, desktop computers, printers, copiers, and fax machines, which will hibernate after a specific period of inactivity, thus saving you precious money on your utility bills.

There are many more steps, as simple as the ones mentioned above, which can help you to bring down your utility bills. Though it may not be possible to implement all these steps at once, following a few and bringing in the newer ones in a step-by-step process can let you enjoy considerable savings. So, act now and save precious dollars with these smart and easy energy saving tips.

Posted in: Environment