Enter and submit some details about your business and we will provide some savings ideas which could be useful to you.
What does your business do?
Now answer some questions to give yourself an idea of how energy aware your company is. If you don't know the answer, don't worry, we will take this into account when we add up your score.
Seal external doors and windows with draught excluder By fitting self-adhesive draught excluder to outside doors and windows you could save £20 - £40 on a typical annual heating bill of £400.
Keep doors closed between heated and unheated areas This will reduce your energy bills by £20 - £40 on a typical annual cost of £400.
Add a lobby to cut down on heat loss If your reception costs £100 per year to heat, up to £25 could be wasted by allowing heat to escape through a frequently used door.
Fit automatic sensors on loading bay doors If your loading bay costs £160 per year to keep warm, you could save about £40, depending upon how many times the door is opened, by adopting this measure.
Insulate cavity walls Prices will vary depending upon circumstances but your investment could be recouped within 5 years.
Insulate roof spaces Prices will vary depending upon circumstances but your investment could be recouped within 5 years.
Ensure room temperatures are thermostatically controlled If you spend £600 per year on space heating, you could reduce your energy bill by about £48 for each degree the temperature is reduced.
Process Plant
Shutdown unnecessary plant Preventing any unwanted plant from running will save the full input power to the plant. For example, a 15kW kiln turned off at night when not needed could save over £2,000 in a year.
Plan for energy efficiency in new installations An investment in energy efficiency at an early stage can yield good results in the longer term.
Ensure plant is used at its optimum level It is always better to run plant at its optimum, as this is when efficiency is greatest. At quiet times, it may be better to shutdown the plant and allow for the workload to build up again.
Monitor energy performance of key processes Monitoring consumption patterns on a regular basis will help keep track of costs, but may also give an early indication of equipment failure, as increasing consumption is often associated with imminent plant failure.
Ensure plant is properly maintained Poorly maintained plant can use up to 30% more energy for the same production and is more likely to break down.
Consider options for improved controls for existing processes A control system that maximises throughput but minimises costs is the ideal setup and could lead to significant savings.
Consider opportunities for heat recovery This could yield up to 40% of your compressor's input power as a free heat source.
Compressed Air
Ensure compressed air is used only when necessary As an energy source, compressed air costs 10 times that of electricity (90% is wasted as heat in the compressor) so it should be used sparingly. Using compressed air to dry products when a simple 3 kW blower would do, means that you could be wasting more than £2 for each hour of continuous use, maybe as much as £4,000 in a year.
Locate and fix air leaks If you have a 30kW compressor running on load for 8 hours per day and 40% is wasting away, then you could be losing the equivalent of £1,600 per year.
Switch off compressors when not needed A 30Kw compressor running offload over lunchtime all year round, could be costing you over £200 a year.
Maintain compressors properly A 15kW compressor running inefficiently could be costing you an extra £850 a year.
Reduce compressed air generation pressure Compressors, that cost £1,500 a year at 7 bar pressure to run, would only cost around £1,400 to run at 6 bar.
Avoid unnecessary filtering or drying Providing ultra clean air when basic filtered air is all that is required will be costing you dearly in energy and filters. Drying also costs significant amounts as the air has to be cooled to separate the moisture although you should ensure that you are filtering and drying to the required standard. This will lead to good financial savings.
Ensure air inlet supply is correct If your 40 kW compressor is drawing air from within a room with an ambient air temperature of 33°C, you will be adding about 4% to the running cost, which could mean an extra £800 per year, based on a 40 hour week.
Isolate redundant pipework to areas that no longer need compressed air Exact savings will depend upon your own system.
Consider heat recovery Contact your manufacturer or supplier because recovering heat could yield up to 40% of the compressor's input power as a "free" heat source.
Space and water heating
Ensure thermostats are set to the desired temperature For every 1°C of extra heat your heating bill could increase by 8%. For warehouses, 16°C is acceptable and 20°C for offices. For hot water, use between 60° and 65°C for catering and washing to help to reduce the risk of Legionella. (Source: UCC)
Reset timers after clock change from BST to GMT If the heating is on too early, you could be paying for an extra hour of heat made up from portable heaters - up to £95 per heater per year.
Fit thermostatic radiator valves If your radiators are full on without any form of regulation, you could be overheating a room and increasing your heating bill.
Have boilers professionally serviced Maintaining your boiler could save you up to £120 per year, if you currently spend £400 on space heating bills.
Fit insulation material behind radiators on outside walls This could save you around £10 per radiator in a year, although circumstances do vary.
Ensure hot water cylinder is well insulated If you spend £160 per year on hot water this could be halved with an insulated cylinder.
Ensure adequate insulation on all hot water pipes Insulate all hot water pipes, flanges and valves to prevent heat loss and cut down on your hot water bills is a cost effective measure.
Ensure radiators are unobstructed You may be using portable heaters to make up for insufficient heat which can be expensive - up to £95 per heater per year.
Electric motors
Prevent unwanted motors running A 4kW motor turned off for an hour a day could save about £100 a year. A 50kW motor turned off for an hour a day could save over £1,200!
Slowing down a motor can make significant energy savings Fitting variable speed drives can lead to significant energy savings with paybacks between 3 and 5 years. A motor taking 14kW at 1500 RPM and costing £1.19 per hour to run will only take around 1kW at 750 RPM and cost 15p per hour to run.
Use direct drives rather than belt drives A 12 kW motor driving a pump directly, rather than via a belt, could save about £260 throughout the year.
On belt driven systems, ensure pulleys are properly aligned A 10 kW motor driving a pump with pulleys that are not properly aligned could add £220 to the annual energy cost.
Changing pulley ratios on fixed speed motors can lead to significant energy savings. Slowing a motor down by simply changing the pulley ratio is very cost effective for fixed speed motors and can often achieve paybacks in under a year. A motor taking 6 kW at 3000 RPM and costing 51p per hour to run could take less than 1 kW and cost less than 7p per hour to run at 1500 RPM.
Connect oversized motors in permanent star configuration An oversized motor could save around 10% of its energy costs if connected in permanent star formation.
Use high efficiency motors A high efficiency EFF1 rated motor used in place of a 25kW basic motor running continuously all year, could save about £400.
Lighting
Check lighting levels Removing each unnecessary 100 Watt standard bulb could save about £20 a year.
Replace incandescent bulbs with compact fluorescent bulbs Standard lamps (bulbs) are inefficient - 10% light and 90% heat. A 20 Watt low energy lamp in place of a 100 Watt incandescent lamp could save you around £16 a year.
Turn off fluorescent lights when not needed A popular myth is that it's not worth turning off fluorescent lights for short periods. But turning off each single 65 Watt fluorescent fitting for one hour a day, at break times, could save around £4 per year per light.
Replace or remove flashing fluorescent tubes A 100 Watt fluorescent tube flashing every couple of seconds could waste £72 worth of energy in a year.
Turn off unnecessary lights Each twin 58 Watt fluorescent fitting costs about £23 a year to run.
Rewire lighting controls for small groups of, or even individual, lights Better control over which light you use is energy efficient. Each twin 100 Watt fluorescent fitting costs about £44 a year.
Fit a time switch to control fixed hours of lighting Each 70 Watt lamp lit all night when part night operation would do, costs an extra £14 per year.
Label light switches Only turning on lights that are needed will save money. A fitting with 4, 18 Watt lamps will cost about £17 a year to run.
Fit daylight and / or occupancy sensors to lights For a group of 6 X 80 Watt fluorescent fittings, savings in the order of £51 per year could be achieved.
Use task lighting rather than light the whole area A single 18 Watt task light instead of an overhead fluorescent light with 4 x 18 Watt tubes could save about £12 per year - enough to cover the cost of the task light.
Consider whole life cost approach when buying lighting By replacing twin 80 Watt fluorescent fittings with new twin 58 watt high frequency fluorescent fittings, energy savings in the order of £13 per fitting could result.
Consider turning off external lighting Rather than leaving lights on all night, fit motion sensors. For a typical 300 Watt tungsten halogen lamp, you could save up to £20 a year, which is about the cost of a fitting. Where lights are required all night, choose discharge lighting - a 70 Watt high pressure sodium lamp rather than a 300 Watt tungsten halogen lamp saves around £42 over the year.
Air Conditioning
Ensure thermostats are set to the recommended temperature Every 1°C cooling below 24°C, could add around 8% to your air conditioning bill, so check regularly that your thermostats are set correctly. Cooling to 23°C or 24°C is normally quite acceptable.
Reset timers after clock change from BST to GMT If the air conditioning comes on an hour early because the timer is set incorrectly, you could be paying for cooling before it is needed. An extra hour cooling each day adds around 9% to your bill.
Avoid simultaneous heating and cooling If you spend £40 heating a space in winter and a further £60 cooling the same space in the summer, your annual bill is £100. But if the systems are both running simultaneously it could cost an extra £25.
Check humidity controls High levels of humidity could double the energy required to operate your system.
Replace air handling unit dampers with variable speed drives Variable speed drives are very efficient and could payback within 3 to 5 years.
Use the right filters and keep them clean Blocked or incorrect filters will be adding to your energy costs and lowering the overall efficiency of your air conditioning plant.
Keep condensers clean Blocked, damaged or dirty condensers could add to the cost of your air conditioning bills by as much as 25% and also cause inadequate cooling.
Remove or insulate all heat sources in air conditioned spaces Consider un-insulated hot pipes, photocopiers, fridges, freezers etc.
Minimise the use of other office equipment that generates heat. One 17" desktop PC left on unnecessarily could cost around £74 per year to run plus around a further £20 per year for additional air conditioning costs.
Minimise solar gain Control the heating effect of the sun by using blinds or shades.
All chilled water pipes should be well insulated By insulating chilled water pipes you will be saving on your energy bills, as the chiller unit will operate more efficiently.
Portable air conditioners should reject heat directly to outside Maximising the efficiency of portable air conditioners could save as much as £50 per year for each externally ducted unit.
Refrigeration
Is cooling really needed? A freezer cooling 2°C lower than necessary and costing £190 a year to run wastes around £30 per year in additional energy costs.
Minimise the number of times that doors are left open Each time the door is opened the cold air escapes and warm moist air enters, both of which lead to greater energy use. The warm moist air has to be cooled down and in the process ice forms, increasing the need for more frequent defrosting as the ice builds up.
Keep evaporators and condensers clean and unobstructed If your freezer costs £1,500 a year to run, then it could cost you an extra £150 if you allow the evaporator temperature to rise by 3°C, twice this amount if the condenser temperature also rises by 3°C.
Fix all refrigerant leaks Refrigerant gas is expensive and lack of it will severely limit the performance of your system and add to the running costs.
Check door seals are in good condition Replacing a bad door seal with a good one will often pay for itself in less than 12 months.
Insulate refrigerant pipes Pipe insulation is very good value for money and will help to keep running costs down. Often the outlay can be recovered in less than 2 years.
Office equipment
Only switch on what you need A photocopier left on unnecessarily could increase your energy bill by up to £194 a year.
Consider whole life cost approach when purchases are made An energy star compliant laser printer could reduce your energy bill by over £19 per year.
Turn off computer monitors when you leave A 17" tube monitor left on unnecessarily could cost up to £37 per year.
Save up photocopying until you have a batch Photocopiers use a lot of energy when they are first switched on and when they are left on because they need be warm to work. Saving up copies could save you up to £194 a year.
Avoid copying documents unnecessarily Cutting down on paper, toner (or ink) and energy can lead to a saving of around £50 per year.
Enable energy saving features on all equipment Power consumption could be reduced by up to 80%. Enabling power save on a laser printer could save up to £11 per year or more.
Avoid using screen savers as they rarely save energy Sometimes screen savers use more energy. Turning off a screen saver and activating the power save function on a computer monitor could save £25 - £45 per year.
Keep photocopiers outside air conditioned spaces May save up to £200 per year for each copier.
Avoid printing emails You can save paper, toner and energy when documents are not printed and the energy alone could be worth £6 or more per year, per printer.
