How to Effectively Manage Your Energy Bills in 2022

When running a business, it’s unlikely that cutting your energy costs is at the top of your priority list when there are so many other important tasks to manage.

However, as energy prices continue to rise in 2022, effectively managing your business’ energy usage can help you to make great savings, freeing up money to invest in other areas of your business.

On top of great money savings, reducing your energy consumption will also make your business more environmentally friendly and therefore more appealing to consumers who are concerned about the sustainability of the businesses they choose to buy from.

So, without further ado, let’s take a look at how you can manage your business’ energy bills more effectively in 2022.

Conduct an Energy Audit

It’s tricky to make significant changes if you don’t know where you’re currently going wrong.

Fortunately, an energy audit can pinpoint exactly where changes should be made by carrying out a thorough analysis of how your business uses energy.

Take Advantage of Tax Relief

Businesses in the UK may be eligible for tax relief or be exempt from certain taxes such as the Climate Change Levy (CCL) if:

• The nature of your business means lots of energy is consumed

• You run a small business that doesn't use much energy

• Your business makes a conscious effort to embrace energy efficient technology

You can find out more information about business tax relief by visiting www.gov.uk

Don’t Leave Equipment on Standby

Although you may think your equipment isn’t using a lot of energy whilst on standby, over the course of a year, a computer will cost £10 to run on standby alone.

When you multiply that by 50 members of staff, that’s £500 that could be saved annually just by turning their computers off at the end of the day, not to mention the savings that could be made by turning off other equipment such as printers, TVs and interactive screens.

Switch Energy Supplier

Switching your energy supplier and choosing one with a better deal is one of the simplest ways to reduce your energy bills. Unfortunately, around 1.3 million businesses are losing out on better deals by staying with the same supplier.

Find out when you should switch energy suppliers in our handy guide.

Install a Motion-Sensor Light System

Lights that are left on in rooms when not in use can also bump up your energy bills. Unfortunately, a ‘turn off lights’ rule is difficult to enforce as people so easily forget, especially when busy.

That’s why the most effective way to prevent lights being left on is to install a motion-sensor lighting system which only keeps lights on when it detects a person’s movement in the room.

Additionally, replacing your incandescent light bulbs with fluorescent bulbs will also help you to make significant savings on your lighting costs. Not only do they cost less to run, they also last around 9,000 hours longer than incandescent bulbs, meaning you won’t have to replace them as often either.

Take Control of Your Heating

During the colder months, it can be tempting to whack the heating on 23ºC, however, this will quickly cause your energy bills to rise.

According to the Energy Saving Trust, turning the thermostat down by just 1ºC can save around £90 annually in a 3-bed-semi-detached house, so just think of the savings it could make for a whole office!

Another way to save on your heating bills is to seal any areas where heat may be escaping, such as through small gaps around windows and doors.

For businesses that work in large warehouses and units, it can be a little trickier to maintain the temperature efficiently, especially when vehicles and personnel are constantly passing in and out of the premises through huge open doors that let out significant amounts of heat.

One way to reduce the time a door is open is to invest in high speed doors, which close quickly after a vehicle has passed through them, minimising heat loss and saving on energy bills.

For more energy updates and advice, check out our other handy guides and articles on our blog.