If you know how to lower your power bill, it can be one of the greatest budget savers out there. This is especially the case for small businesses that often find themselves paying increasingly expensive power bills. When you consider that many businesses require office equipment, employee work areas, a climate-controlled environment, and lighting, you can see how quickly a power bill can become bloated.
The ideas we showcase here are a great introduction to reducing the power bill for your small business. Of course, some of these tips will depend on your specific business or location. But the goal remains the same, use less power, lower your monthly budget, and save money!
If you know how to lower your power bill, it can be one of the greatest budget savers out there. #budgeting #smallbusiness Share on X-
Have your power company do an energy audit
Most residential power companies offer homeowners an energy audit, whereby they send someone out to assess your location and provide you recommendations on how to lower your energy consumption.
This is often a good area to begin your quest to lower your power bill, simply contact your power company to find out more.
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Limit your power usage to workspaces only
If your small business is being run out of your house this can be as simple as turning off lights, fans or appliances in other parts of the house. Why waste power on other parts of the house if you’re not using it?
On the flip side, if your business is based out of an office environment you could adopt motion activated or dimming lights for lunch/break rooms, bathrooms, and even waiting areas. This would allow you to focus energy towards active use areas such as work stations and office space.
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Let employees work from home once a week
Allowing employees to work from home once or twice a week can save a business on their power bill. This happens because less employees will be using equipment, bathrooms, and lighting. Even if you have a ‘work from home’ day once a week the savings on the power bill will be significant.
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Upgrade to a programable thermostat to lower your power bill
Using a programable thermostat is a phenomenal idea for a home but also for your small business. With such a thermostat you can pre-program it to shut off power to your heating and AC units during specific hours of the day. This is a perfect way to save power during hours when no one is working.
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Weather-stripping can reduce energy consumption
It can be quite costly to run your heater or air conditioning. To make matters worse letting air escape through a poorly sealed window or door can cause your unit to run longer and use more energy. To remedy this, you can simply reinforce or replace the weather-stripping around your doors and windows.
The process to do this takes little time to accomplish but can be a major budget saver!
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Upgrade to the latest energy efficient equipment
This one isn’t too revolutionary but is constant with the evolution of technology. Simply modernize and adopt newer technology that uses less energy. For example, instead of using a desktop or laptop computer to do basic tasks, such as emailing or social media management, consider using a phone or tablet. Both use far less power than a traditional computer, so you’ll be saving energy in no time!
This same logic can also be applied to almost any piece of office equipment.
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For home-based businesses, home energy saving tips also work
The beauty of having a small business based out of your house is that most home energy tips will also benefit you. Traditional home energy tips that are timeless can be a major budget help. Some examples include: air-drying clothes to limit your drying machine use, or planting trees around your house to reduce direct sunlight.
So, in this case, what benefits your home energy also benefits your business energy.
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Clean your vents and HVAC system
We’ve already touched on weather-stripping and programmable thermostats but they all revolve around optimizing your HVAC system. The actual HVAC can be cleaned and will save you money on your power bill. Debris can sometimes get trapped in the unit and make it run much harder. Not only that but having it cleaned can also extend the life of the unit. So, a small investment but a major reward.
Your vents are also a great area to consider cleaning. Your vent system, which carries the air from your HVAC system, can leak or develop holes over time. This allows air traveling from the HVAC system to leak out and fatefully be wasted. In such a scenario repairing or cleaning the vent could save you money short-term and long-term.
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Schedule around peak energy hours to lower your power bill
Perhaps this tip is dependent upon what classification of business you have or the flexibility of your employees but consider planning your work schedule around optimal energy hours. In most areas you will find that nights are considered non-peak hours for energy consumption. This is understandable as many other businesses have closed for the night or have scaled back to an overnight skeleton crew.
This presents a better energy rate for you and can surely reduce your power bill.
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Change your lighting habits
Optimizing your lighting is quite easily one of the simpler things to address. Swapping out lightbulbs for energy star efficient lightbulbs can take a hatchet to your power bill. Also, as we alluded to earlier in #2, you can also switch to motion activated lighting in low traffic areas that avoid wasteful lighting.
You can also forego using energy altogether by taking advantage of natural lighting from outside. Especially if you’re location allows you to. Why pay for lighting when you can get it for free?
These 10 ways to lower your power bill are just the beginning. There are still hundreds, even thousands, of ways you can reduce your monthly power bill.
So, how are you going to save on your power bill?
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Cristina Chisholm
Cristina Chisholm enjoys finding new and innovative ways to save money, from everything to energy saving tips to creating homemade DIY projects. Believing in the idea that it is your hard earned money, why not keep more of it, she has complied much of this helpful information on her website, Facebook page, and Pinterest page.