Energy Saving Guides

Did you know? The Carbon Trust says that by implementing simple energy efficiency projects, the public sector could reduce their energy bill by £1 billion.

We know how important energy efficiency is for public sector organisations. Small budgets, spending public money safely, can be tough.

For example, hospitals and schools having to balance the safety and comfort of people in their care, while trying to reduce energy can be extremely difficult.

Making it increasingly challenging, local authorities are continually expected to promote environmental issues in their communities.

At Energy Solutions, we are here to help our customers, by offering free advice on how to improve their energy efficiency.

Let’s being with asking some questions to monitor how you currently use energy: 

• Do you have the cooling and heating working at the same time?
• In the near future, do you have building refurbishments planned?
• Are your lights left on all and, or even all night?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, then with our help, you will likely be able to save yourself a lot of money, all in an easy and simple way.   

Here are some statistics that may shock you: 

• Utilising daylight in classrooms can have a reduction of up to 19% in lighting costs.
• Simply raising energy awareness could see a decrease of more than 25% in energy consumption in hospitals.
• By an increase of just 1°C in heating, fuel consumption will rise by around 8–10% in educational establishments.

So, what steps can you make to save yourself some money and become more energy efficient? Let’s dive right in.   

Lighting Tips

• Purchasing daylight sensors and time switches can be a great investment to save some money and reduce your energy usage. This removes the possibility of leaving lights on for long periods of time when they aren’t in use as they help to avoid leaving lights on.
• Ensure your windows and lights are kept clean. Simply by not maintaining the cleanliness of lighting, in 3 years you can see light levels decrease by more than 30%.
• You should encourage staff to only use lights when necessary. Leave posters near light switches to make employees more aware of how using lights can decrease energy efficiency and impact the environment. When there are reduced numbers of staff in, use lighting only in the areas that are needed.
• At the end of the day, teach staff members to turn off lights when leaving. This simple guidance could save leaving lights on overnight which aren’t needed, saving both energy consumption and money.
• Energy-efficient lights are another popular method for reducing energy consumption. Replacing bulky, old lamps for newer, compact fluorescent lighting could save around 80% of energy usage in your office space. What a neat swap.

Ventilation Tips

• Air recycling should be optimised. This is especially important during times where there is low occupancy. Keep an eye on air recycling and you will see the difference in your energy bills
• Many newer air conditioning appliances have energy-saving features. Think about purchasing these types of equipment when improving energy efficiency. It will save you in the long run.
• By installing variable-speed drives, you can reduce your running costs when they’re used for pumps and fans.
• By simply keeping doors closed when possible, you will keep warm and cold air from escaping the room. Rooms will be kept warm and you will decrease the need to use heating, which uses more unnecessary energy.

Heating, Air Conditioning And Hot Water Tips

• Excessive cooling can cost you. Try to save energy by optimising your air conditioning. Aiming to only use cooling when necessary is key, so try to not use it below 24–26°C.
• To reduce heat loss in your building, try using window blinds. If you close your window blinds at night, or before the last person leaves the office, you can trap the heat indoors which can help to decrease heat loss.
• Make sure your radiator circuit is compensating for weather changes to decrease the risk of overheating.
• Overheating can be a common problem in buildings. A good tip is to make sure your radiator circuit is weather compensated as this will decrease the chance of overheating. Instead of turning down the heating, you can open windows when overheating occurs.
• A little tip is to switch off the heating for around 30 minutes towards the end of the day. Buildings will often retain the heat until staff have left the building. Try to match the heating times to opening and closing times to improve energy efficiency.
• For schools and hospitals, installing taps with timers is an easy way to reduce energy waste. Many people may leave taps running by accident, especially in larger buildings, the chances are increased. Timer taps remove this unnecessary waste of water, saving you money.

If you are a retailer, it is likely that you are paying very high energy bills. In fact, the retail sector is amongst those that were hit the hardest by the 2007/2008 economic crash. While running a retail business of course requires a lot of energy to power all the necessary equipment, there are some areas of the retail sector where energy is wasted. By implementing simple changes such as controlling lighting and heating, or frequently servicing your boilers you will be able to cut your energy bills by as much as 20%.

Carbon Trust explains that ‘Low and no-cost actions can usually reduce energy costs by at least 10% and produce quick returns. For many businesses, a 20% cut in energy costs represents the same bottom-line benefit as a 5% increase in sales.’

At Energy Solutions, we are committed to helping our customers be more energy-efficient and to lower their impact on the environment. As an energy broker with many years of experience in the energy industry, we can offer expert advice not only on how to get the best energy deal but also on how to cut your energy bills.

This guide for retailers explains what the main energy-saving opportunities in their sector are. Before you have a look at the areas where you can save energy and money, you have to ask yourself the following questions.

Does your retail business use too much energy?

• Do you leave the lights on during the day and at night?
• Is your equipment always on, even when the store is closed?
• Is the temperature in your store too high?

If the answer to any of these questions is yes, you can simply save money by changing your energy-consumption habits.

Have a look at some facts about saving energy in your retail store:

• Lighting accounts for 20-60% of retailers’ total energy costs.
• Heating and air-conditioning accounts for 40-60% of retailers’ energy use.
• If you reduce room temperature by as little as 1°C, you can lower fuel consumption by 8%.
• By installing chilled or frozen food cabinets, your business can save around £100 each year on energy bills.

Energy efficiency tips

Energy Solutions compiled some tips to help you cut the energy bills in your retail store. They can be divided into several categories related to various aspects of running your business.

Aspect of running a retail store	Energy-efficiency tips
Heating and air conditioning	Avoid overheating the restaurant by regularly checking thermostats and controls. Service boilers regularly. Turn the heating or air conditioning off one hour before you close the store and all the employees leave. Do not run the heating outside trading hours. Install time switches so that the heating is not on when the building is empty. Do not overheat the store in winter. Keep the temperature at around 19°C so that the customers have a good experience but you don’t pay too much for energy bills. Do not overcool the store in the summer. Never set the air-conditioning below 24°C.
Lighting	Install energy-efficient bulbs such as LED bulbs that use 80% less energy than traditional bulbs. Install movement sensors, time switches, and daylight controls to ensure the lights only on when there are people in the store. Make sure the employees turn the lights off when they leave the room. Upgrade all the lights to energy-efficient ones, not only the ones in the main room.
Refrigeration	Do not set the temperatures too low. Regularly check the seals in fridges and freezers. Do not overfill the shelves in fridges and freezers. Only put in the things that you really need.

If you are a restaurant owner, it is likely that you are paying very high energy bills. While running a restaurant of course requires a lot of energy to power all the necessary equipment, you are able to cut your energy bills by as much as 20%.

Are you wondering how to do it?

Cutting your restaurant’s energy bills is extremely easy. In fact, all you need to do is change your energy consumption habits and implement simple energy efficiency measures that can have many forms. You can introduce these solutions at your restaurant’s premises by, for example, installing LED bulbs, thermostats, or air conditioning controls. You can also make your restaurant greener by educating your employees and encouraging the whole team to get on board and consume less energy.

At Energy Solutions, we are committed to helping our customers be more energy efficient and to lower their impact on the environment. As an energy broker with many years of experience in the energy industry, we can offer expert advice not only on how to get the best energy deal but also on how to cut your energy bills.

Gazprom Energy says that ‘making some small changes to increase energy efficiency can provide significant financial savings.’ Here at Energy Solutions, we share this opinion and we aim to explain to customers what these changes are and how to implement them.

Before you have a look at tips on how to cut your energy bills, ask yourself the following questions:

Does your restaurant use too much energy?

• Do you and your employees leave the lights on when the rooms are empty?
• Is the air conditioning on when the windows are open?
• Is the equipment on when it is not in use?
• Do you use LED bulbs?
• Do you have thermostats and sensors installed?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, you can easily save money by changing these habits.

Have a look at some facts about saving energy in your restaurant:

• By raising energy awareness among employees and providing training on how to be more energy-efficient you can reduce energy use by up to 25%.
• If you cut your energy costs by 20%, you can observe a 5% increase in sales.
• By installing low-energy lighting you can also reduce costs related to air-conditioning.

Energy efficiency tips

Energy Solutions compiled some tips to help you cut your restaurant’s energy bills. They can be divided into several categories related to various aspects of running your business.

Aspect of running a restaurant	Energy-efficiency tips
Heating, ventilation, air conditioning	Avoid overheating the restaurant by regularly checking thermostats and controls. Service boilers regularly. Install time switches so that the heating is not on when the building is empty. Do not set the air-conditioning below 24*C.
Lighting	Install energy-efficient bulbs such as LED bulbs. Install movement sensors to ensure the lights are not on when there is no one in the room. Make sure the employees turn the lights off when they leave the room.
Hot water	Properly insulate hot water pipes. Install spray water taps as they use less hot water and less power. Quickly repair leaking taps.
Refrigeration	Frequently check door seals. Do not open refrigerators’ doors when it’s not necessary. Only buy A++ rated equipment to make sure they consume the least energy possible and have the lowest electrical running costs.

How switched on is your restaurant?

• Do you have lights on continuously in areas that are only occasionally occupied?

• Do you have areas that are draughty or too hot or too cold?

• Do the kitchen staff leave catering and extraction equipment on unnecessarily?

If you answered yes to any of the above, you can probably save lots of money very easily!

Did you know that?

• Simple actions such as raising energy awareness among kitchen and waiting staff and providing energy management training can reduce catering energy use by up to 25%?
• A 20% cut in energy costs can represent the same bottom-line benefit as a 5% increase in sales?
• Installing low-energy lighting can also reduce air conditioning costs?
  Source: Carbon Trust

How does cutting up to 20% of your office’s energy bills sound?

Well, by applying just a few simple measures, you will see massive improvements to your energy efficiency, as well as saving some money.

At Energy Solutions, we are here to help our customers, by offering free advice on how to improve their energy efficiency.

These simple, inexpensive energy efficiency steps such as switching off your office equipment, controlling your lighting and using energy-efficient lamps can go a long way.

Here are some questions to monitor how your company uses energy:

• Does your office leave the lights on all day and all night?
• Is it difficult to keep your office temperature at a comfortable climate?
• In the summer, is the air conditioner always on?
• Are your electronic appliances such as computers, photocopiers and printers always turned on, even when they’re not being used?
• If you answered yes to any of these questions, then with our help, you will likely be able to save yourself a lot of money, all in an easy and simple way.

Here are some statistics that may shock you:

• A PC monitor that is left turned on overnight costs on average £45 per year and can waste enough electricity to laser print over 500 pages.
• An energy-efficient office will pay less than 65% less than a typical office.
• By air conditioning your office for an extra hour each day, you could use this energy each month to supply energy to power a TV for over a year.
• If you left a computer switched on overnight, each year you could create enough CO2 to completely fill a double-decker bus.

So, what steps can you make to save yourself some money and become more energy efficient? Let’s dive right in.

Lighting Tips

• Purchasing daylight sensors and time switches can be a great investment to save some money and reduce your energy usage. This removes the possibility of leaving lights on for long periods of time when they aren’t in use as they help to avoid leaving lights on.
• You should encourage staff to only use lights when necessary. Leave posters near light switches to make employees more aware of how using lights can decrease energy efficiency and impact the environment. When there are reduced numbers of staff in, use lighting only in the areas that are needed, rather than lighting up the entire building.
• Energy-efficient lights are another popular method for reducing energy consumption. Replacing bulky, old lamps for newer, compact fluorescent lighting could save around 80% of energy usage in your office space. What a neat swap.
• It should be made clear and obvious which lights are required to be left on and which lights should be turned off when they’re not needed. An example could be leaving on the reception lights, but turning off the canteen lights when there is less use.
• How about this statistic, just by installing correct office lights, you can reduce your energy costs by more than 15%. These office lights include compact fluorescent and LED lights.
• Do you have exit signs in your office? Well, by replacing these inefficient signs with LED exit signs, you can see lower maintenance costs, as well as longer life spans. This means less money spent on replacing lights, as well as lower energy costs.

Business Equipment Tips

• Many newer office appliances have energy-saving features. Think about purchasing these types of equipment when improving your office efficiency. It will save you in the long run. 
• Even when office equipment is in standby mode, you are still using energy which will all add to your monthly bills. Try to show your staff the benefits of turning off office equipment when it isn’t in use to improve your energy efficiency.
• Upgrading your office equipment is a tidy way to save some energy. Old heaters and air conditioning may not be working at their peak efficiency, which means you’re drawing unnecessary power, which in turn costs you more money. Look for energy star appliances.
• If you have a kitchen or canteen, your refrigeration appliances could be costing you money. Look at purchasing or upgrading to a high energy efficiency rating fridge or freezer. Another tip is to keep them out of direct sunlight, cleaning fans and motors, checking seals on the doors as well as regularly defrosting your machines.

Heating Tips

• To reduce heat loss in your office, try using window blinds. If you close your window blinds at night, or before the last person leaves the office, you can trap the heat indoors which can help to decrease heat loss.
• Investing in a modern, programmable thermostat can help you to save a lot of money. When there is no one in the office, your thermostat can adjust the room temperature to reduce wasting energy.
• One of the most expensive energy sources is electric heaters. They can easily increase your energy bills without you realising. Try to avoid using these if necessary and watch your bills come down.
• Overheating can be a common problem in office spaces. A good tip is to make sure your radiator circuit is weather compensated as this will decrease the chance of overheating. Instead of turning down the heating, you can open windows when overheating occurs.
• Try to advise your staff to lower the thermostat in your office when the heating isn’t required. Many offices have their heating turned up during the summer months. These months can be great times to save some money and reduce your energy consumption.

Building Upgrade Tips

• Did you know that 10% of heat loss in most buildings is due to draughts? If you can fit some self-adhesive thermal strips around your office’s windows and doors you can massively reduce the likelihood of draughts. Easy fix to save some cash.
• A neat upgrade could be fitting automatic closures on external doors. Losing heat through open doors will no longer be an issue for your office.
• Have you considered installing solar panels? They could be a great investment for your office. After the initial cost, you will be rewarded with low maintenance, renewable energy that can have a massive impact on your energy bills as well as improving your carbon footprint.
• Planting trees outside your office is another simple method that can improve energy efficiency. Trees will help to protect your office from warm weather during hot summers, as well as insulating your building during the colder winters.

How does cutting up to 20% of your manufacturing operation’s energy bills sound? 

Well, by applying just a few simple measures, you will see massive improvements to your energy efficiency, as well as saving some money.

At Energy Solutions, we are here to help our customers, by offering free advice on how to improve their energy efficiency.

These simple, inexpensive energy efficiency steps such as fixing leaks, cleaning refrigeration condensers and using variable-speed drives can go a long way. 

Here are some questions to monitor how your company uses energy:

• Are you using heating and lights in unoccupied areas of your building?
• Do you have old, lightly loaded or damaged machinery or appliances?
• Is there a process in place to clean and monitor your equipment?
• When there is no demand for air, are your compressor installations switched on?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, then with our help, you will likely be able to save yourself a lot of money, all in an easy and simple way. 

Here are some statistics that may shock you:

• Reducing a motors speed with a variable speed drive by just 20%, you’ll see a 50% reduction in energy consumption.
• Heating is accountable for up to 12% or more of all the energy used in the manufacturing industry.
• By simply tuning your boiler, you could see savings of £800 each year.

So, what steps can you make to save yourself some money and become more energy efficient? Let’s dive right in. 

Motor Tips

• You should keep an eye on your motor systems and make sure they’re well maintained. This could be checking the alignment, belt tightness and lubricating when needed.
• By installing variable-speed drives, you can reduce your running costs when they’re used for pumps and fans.
• A good tip to saving money is by investing in high-efficiency motors. They may even quality for tax relief via the Enhanced Capital Allowance Scheme. They can help to decrease energy consumption levels which will reduce your businesses carbon footprint.

Heating Tips

• If you want to keep your energy consumption down, then sorting out your heating could be a good place to start. Make sure to frequently monitor your thermostat and keep it set to the recommended climate.
• A quick guide to thermostat temperatures are offices set to around 24ºC in the summer and 21ºC in the winter. Workshops should be set to around 16–19ºC.
• If you have time switches, make sure to check they are working. Sometimes they could be faulty, turning your heating on during out of hours times. If your time switch is faulty, you could be burning energy that isn’t needed.
• How often do you service your boiler? Well, if it isn’t 1-2 times a year then you could be missing out on big savings! Boilers are recommended to be serviced annually, saving you around 5% on annual heating bills

Refrigeration Tips

• Did you know that having dirty refrigeration condensers may increase your costs by up to 26%? That could be enough motivation to clean your refrigeration condensers to keep the savings coming.
• Simply checking your doors are sealed properly is an easy way to reduce energy waste. You can see an increase of up to 11% in power consumption through a faulty seal on the door. Double-check to keep those savings sealed.
• Try to limit the amount of refrigerant charge you use. You can see an increase of over 10% in energy costs when too much is used.

Compressed Air Tips

• When you’re not using your compressors, turn them off completely. When compressors are turned on, even when there is no demand can consume up to 70% of the full load power. To save, switch it off.
• It could be a good idea to look into reducing the operating pressure of the compressed air you use. How about this, to save a huge 7% of energy consumption, you only need a 1-bar reduction. That is a very simple and easy way for you to save some energy.

Lighting Tips

• You should encourage staff to only use lights when necessary. Leave posters near light switches to make employees more aware of how using lights can decrease energy efficiency and impact the environment. When there are reduced numbers of staff in, use lighting only in the areas that are needed, rather than lighting up the entire building. 
• It should be made clear and obvious which lights are required to be left on and which lights should be turned off when they’re not needed. An example could be leaving on the reception lights, but turning off the canteen lights when there is less use.
• Utilise the power of natural light. Rather than using power for lighting, if you have windows then use the sunlight to light up the room. Open the blinds to save some money.
• Purchasing daylight sensors and time switches can be a great investment to save some money and reduce your energy usage. This removes the possibility of leaving lights on for long periods of time when they aren’t in use as they help to avoid leaving lights on. 

Insulation Tips

• When it comes to insulation, you should check both the cold and hot pipework insulation. This also includes process ovens. Monitor their condition, ensuring there is no damage or wear. You should make repairs to any necessary parts.
• You should also check to ensure valve flanges are insulated. For any that aren’t insulated, it is a wise decision to install jackets. You can see payback in under 12 months, so well worth the investment.
• For process tanks, an easy way to reduce energy waste is to use lids. This is especially important out of hours. This can reduce losses that come through surface evaporation.