Apart from comparing quotes from different business gas and electricity suppliers, there are other ways you can reduce your energy bills. As a small business owner, it’s worth implementing as many of these as possible to keep your energy costs down and make your shop more efficient.
Let’s take a look at some of the best ways you can do this.
Dim the lights
A simple way of reducing how much electricity your business uses is to use low lighting in certain areas. This includes areas like store cupboards, stock rooms, and staff toilets. The areas of your shop that are used by customers need to be well-lit. Yet, areas that are only used by staff can have dimmer lighting.
You could also install movement sensors in such areas. This means that the lights will only turn on when the areas are in use. The same goes for any lights outside your shop. By installing dawn-to-dusk automatic sensors, these lights will only come on when it’s dark.
These easy adjustments will bring your electricity prices down over time.
Use LED lighting
If your shop is using fluorescent bulbs then consider changing them for LED ones. Lighting is responsible for a lot of business electricity consumption. By switching to LED lights, your lighting could be up to 80% more efficient.
Turn the thermostat down
The most straightforward way to reduce your business gas bill is to turn your shop’s thermostat down by 1°C. This can lead to an 8% decrease in energy usage. During the colder months, you should keep your thermostat at 19°C. You want your customers to be comfortably warm when they’re in your shop without your business gas bill skyrocketing.
You should also make sure that the door to your shop remains closed as much as possible. This will help to prevent heat from escaping.
Don’t overfill your fridges
Make sure you don’t overfill the display fridges in your shop. When fridges are too full, air circulates poorly which means the fridges have to work harder to keep the products cool. This leads to an increase in your electricity prices.
The fridge doors should close properly and the seals around them should be correctly fitted. Plus, you should turn off the display lights when the shop is closed.
Use half-hourly meters
Your business may already be using automatic meter readings which are sent to your gas and electricity supplier. However, by using half-hourly meters you can further reduce your bills.
These meters send an automatic reading to your energy supplier every half hour. This allows them to get a much more accurate reading and makes sure that you’re only charged for the energy you use.
You can also ask your business energy supplier to provide you with an energy consumption breakdown. Then, you can identify the areas where your business uses the most energy and work to reduce this.
Install insulation
Another great way to bring down your business gas and electricity prices is to ensure your shop is properly insulated. You should look to insulate the roof, flooring, and any external walls. This prevents heat loss and makes your business much more efficient.
Upgrade your windows
As with insulation, upgrading your windows from single-glazed to double-glazed reduces the amount of heat that is lost from your shop. This should mean that you have to use less gas to heat your newsagents which helps to keep your bills down.