Discover whether you could be saving on what you pay for your newsagent gas and electricity. See the best deals from UK suppliers with Business Energy Comparison.
Although energy consumption varies between businesses, there are some key areas where most newsagents use a lot of energy.
The 2016 Business Energy Efficiency Survey showed that around 25% of energy is used on cooled storage, around 33% is used on heating, and around 25% is used on lighting in such shops.
Things like fans, hot water, and digital devices also contribute to the overall energy usage of newsagents.
We’ll go into more detail about how you can save money on your business electricity and business gas prices later. However, there are three easy ways that you can reduce your business gas and electricity prices:
As mentioned, the amount of energy your business uses will depend on numerous factors. This includes the size of your shop, the equipment you use, and the energy-saving measures you have in place.
Still, there are some estimated figures that can be used for small and medium businesses to give you an idea of how much energy you’re using. Newsagents use less energy than large businesses, such as supermarkets, but energy usage is still significant.
On average, a small business uses around 15,000 kWh and 30,000 kWh of gas and around 15,000 kWh and 25,000 kWh of electricity a year on average.
As energy companies charge different rates, the energy supplier you use has a huge impact on your business gas and business electricity prices.
At Business Energy Comparison, we help you to find quotes from business energy and utility providers so that you can get the best deal for your newsagents.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Increasing the energy efficiency of your newsagents has other benefits besides lowering your energy bills. It also reduces the number of carbon emissions your business generates which leads to a smaller carbon footprint for your shop.
To reduce this even further, you could consider installing solar panels and switching to an electricity supplier that uses green electricity. Many energy companies now supply electricity from renewable sources. This includes lots of the business energy providers that we work with at Business Energy Comparison.
Currently, the UK government’s Energy Bill Relief Scheme provides discounts to businesses for their energy bills. This was brought in as a response to soaring energy prices caused by disruptions to the global energy market in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
However, this scheme comes to an end in March 2023. It will be replaced with the Energy Bills Discount Scheme in April 2023.
The new scheme will give support to businesses by giving them discounts on the wholesale prices of gas and electricity. As gas and electricity prices remain very high, this is of course helpful for businesses of all sizes. Still, it’s not to be confused with an actual cap on energy prices.
The quickest and best way to reduce your energy costs is to compare suppliers with Business Energy Comparison. We work with the biggest business energy suppliers in the UK, including:
Our expert business energy brokers and consultants will help you to compare prices and rates from a range of different suppliers. This way, you can find a deal that’s right for your business and keep your rates as low as possible.
As part of our service, you’ll have access to free quotes just minutes after starting your search. By comparing the various quotes, you could save up to 45% on your business energy bills.
With the energy crisis still ongoing, it’s vital that owners of newsagents try to reduce their energy costs as much as possible. There are many ways to do this, but the most effective way is to compare energy quotes. By doing so, you can make sure that you’re getting the best deal available for your business.
When you’re implementing energy-saving measures, you need all of your staff to be on board too. This can be challenging as some staff members may be set in their ways and have old habits. Still, it’s certainly possible to encourage your staff to help you help make your business more energy efficient.
Some of the ways you can do this include:
The amount that your business pays per unit hour (kWh) is affected by many different factors. These include:
Fixed energy contracts are helpful as you know what you’ll be paying for the duration of the contract. However, with energy prices currently so high, agreeing to a fixed contract now may not be worth it.
If you do decide to take out a fixed contract, it may be worth choosing one with a fairly short duration.
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