Member Article

Switch off to make Royal savings

British businesses are being encouraged to ‘switch off’ before they head home for the extended bank holiday weekend.

With energy prices one of the main costs of doing business, firms that leave their appliances running or on standby will land themselves with a larger energy bill according to energy consultancy Utilitywise.

The average small or medium sized business (SME) wastes over £6000 a year by leaving office equipment on standby during the evenings and weekends according to research from the Carbon Trust.

Firms should check internal and external lighting’s switched off, computers and monitors, printers and copiers are turned off, heating and cooling isn’t programmed to come on over the bank holiday and that any automatic systems know that the site is going to be closed for two days next week, if they do the savings can soon add up. A single computer and monitor left on 24 hours a day will cost £45 a year.

Firms should also be asking whether they need to leave their computer servers on as switching them off could not only save on running costs for the servers but also the cooling that goes with them. In one case Utilitywise identifying through its Edd:e energy monitor that a client’s servers was being left on 24-hours a day, seven days a week. By restricting access out of hours energy consumption was reduced tenfold. In another case Utilitywise identified that a client’s gas boiler was firing during the night when the office was closed and would have wasted £20,000 a year.

Adam Thompson, Chief Operating Officer at Utilitywise said: “The extended bank holiday means there will be four days when thousands of firms are racking up energy bills they could do without.

“With budget’s tight, simple energy saving measures such as ensuring all IT equipment and lighting is turned off over the weekend will help firms save money and allow business owners to switch off and celebrate the Jubilee weekend.”

Utilitywise, works with clients across the UK to provide a complete package of energy services to companies, from sole traders through to large corporations, looking to get more value out of their energy contracts.

Much of the company’s recent growth has been driven by the success of innovative products such as the British designed Edd:e energy monitoring system which allows businesses to identify cost savings down to the individual circuit. On average it identifies ways to reduce a company’s energy consumption by 27 per cent.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Utilitywise plc .