6 ways to save energy this Christmas:

As the festive season is upon us, we share how switching off and powering down can really add up this Christmas.

Here’s our sustainability specialists, Maisie, Megan and Caitlin to explain how taking these simple actions can help minimise energy usage and contribute to cost savings while your business is closed for the festive break.

Switching off and powering down can help cut energy costs at Christmas

1. Turn the heating down: Dropping the temperature of your workplace by just one degree can save 4% on fuel consumption. So if you’re closing the office/workshop/plant for a few days, taking advantage of frost control or holiday settings on your boiler, heaters or HVAC system can mean big savings without any risk of frozen pipes.

2. Switch off non-essential equipment: They’re so much part of the furniture that it’s often easy to overlook water heaters, vending machines and photocopiers. Left on, they can be power-hungry, so switch off whenever you can. Just remember to flush water coolers, heaters and kettles when you next switch them back on again.

3. Close doors and windows: it’s not just a potential security issue – leaving windows or doors ajar can confuse thermostats and force the heating to work far harder than it should.

4. Stop sleep modes: From desktop PCs to CNC machines, lots of workplace kit comes with a handy sleep mode for fast reboots. But ‘sleep’ is not the same as ‘off’ and whilst sleep modes use less energy than full operating mode, it’s still a waste compared to powering down completely. Pay particular attention to monitors, the piece of equipment most likely to be left on standby.

5. Switch off the lights: Unless your lights are motion activated (in which case, they’ll sort themselves out) remember to do a final check for rogue desk lamps and Christmas tree lights left on. LEDs don’t use much energy – but it’s still a waste that can add up if lots of them are left on.

6. Make energy saving a team initiative: Yes, the job of saving energy might ultimately fall to the owner, estates manager/team. But when you give everyone within your business the responsibility for their own area you’re likely to achieve better results. Send a checklist to everyone in the days before Christmas, so every monitor, microwave and machine press has an ‘owner’ who’ll take responsibility for ensuring it’s off.

By incorporating these simple yet effective strategies into your festive shut down, it will help contribute to more sustainable practices and help cut energy costs. And for a much bigger Christmas present, talk to the Blackpool Net Zero Business Academy about how we can help you save energy, reduce carbon and cut energy bills.

We’re offering a fully-funded energy audit to Blackpool businesses who have been trading for 12 months and are in a premises. Our sustainability specialists will use the audit to build an understanding of your carbon footprint, and then create a personalised Decarbonisation Action Plan on how to reduce it.

Book your energy audit here.