SME Energy Saving Tips

For microbusinesses, startups and SMEs, there are often times when every penny counts. With the volatility of global energy prices over the last few years, most businesses will have experienced an increase in their energy bills, even if they haven’t increased their usage. Finding ways to save energy in the workplace can make a significant difference to usage, especially when several small changes combine to have a more significant impact on bills.

In fact, research indicates that SMEs can unlock energy savings of as much as 30% by making some straightforward changes using current technology and best-practice tips, which don’t require significant investment.

In this guide, we look at why saving energy can have multiple benefits for SMEs, as well as the environment, and provide some tips for making several simple changes that can really add up over time.

The Benefits of SME Energy Saving

There are several reasons why businesses can benefit from saving energy and taking more sustainable actions, as the knock-on impact can have financial, social and reputational implications, too.

Energy Saving to Reduce Bills

A major motivator for many SMEs when it comes to energy-saving is always going to be because of the financial benefits it will have for the business. Every SME is different and may use energy in a variety of different ways, but reducing usage even by a small percentage can make a tangible difference to business energy bills over time.

Energy Saving to Help Protect the Environment

Many businesses want to take positive action when reducing their energy use because it will benefit the environment and help combat climate change.

While large organisations in the UK currently have to report on their sustainability and carbon footprint, SMEs are not yet required to do so by law. However, this could well change in the future. SMEs that take action on their energy use now are going to be well-prepared if compliance requirements are expanded to include smaller businesses within that scope.

What Energy Saving Says About Company Ethos

People want to do business with and work for companies that have a conscience.

According to research, three in four consumers (76%) want companies to take the initiative to reduce their environmental footprint. Studies also indicate that employees of businesses with a genuine commitment to sustainability have a higher engagement rate and it can even have an impact on their work performance, retention and well-being.

It’s not just employees and customers who want to improve sustainability in the workplace; business owners do too! Research indicates that nearly two thirds of SME business owners want to be environmentally sustainable.

While saving energy is just one part of a wider sustainability strategy that a business might have, it plays an important role and can be a great place to start. This approach can also help SMEs gain official sustainability credentials that can be an important trust signal to drive further business growth and success in the future.

Where to Start With SME Energy Saving?

Conduct An Energy Audit

Understanding exactly how your business uses energy is essential before you can put a plan in place to reduce this without having to compromise on the things that matter to you, your employees and your customers or clients.

In its simplest form, an SME energy audit can involve a walkaround of the business premises, making notes on things that are currently in place which use energy, such as:

• Heating/air-con/fans

• Lighting

• Electrical equipment

• Kitchen facilities

• Employee behaviour

You can even use devices such as inexpensive smart plugs that measure the energy used by specific devices that are plugged into mains electricity in the workplace. This method will help you to gather data on how much energy is being used by specific activities.

Along with taking a detailed look at your business energy bill, the data gathered during your energy audit will help you make an action plan for reducing your usage.

Determine What Energy Use is Within Your Control

If your SME owns your business premises, it can be fairly straightforward to work out how much of your energy use is under your control. However, many businesses will lease their commercial premises, and this can have implications for the changes that they may or may not be able to make to their energy use. For example, some office buildings that host many different companies may have a standard heating system that operates at a set temperature for everyone during set hours.

Businesses can speak to their landlord or building management company and find out what changes they are permitted to make in their part of the premises to help change how they use energy. If several businesses in the same building can agree on changes that they would like to make and approach the landlord together, this can give the building owner or manager a more compelling reason to enable the actions.

Once you have a clear understanding of what energy use is within your control, you can make a plan for reducing it where possible.

Energy Saving Tips for Small Businesses

It would be brilliant if all SMEs could make major investments now in equipment and technologies that will help reduce their energy use and ensure their long-term sustainability. However, having the funds available to do this all at once is not the reality for many small and medium-sized businesses. We’ve compiled a list of low or no-cost changes and plans that SMEs can make to help start saving energy.

Make a Plan for Energy-Saving Equipment Upgrades

Whether it’s ageing and inefficient computers and monitors, printers, copiers or even kitchen appliances, many businesses use equipment every day that draws a lot of energy. Updating or upgrading these to more efficient models all at once is often cost-prohibitive, but what you can do is ensure that you have a full list of your electrical equipment and determine at what point in the future they will likely need to be replaced. Then, make sure that you choose more efficient versions for the replacement equipment so that it will save on energy use over time. For example, changing older tower computers for laptops can make a real difference if the bigger and more powerful machines and monitors are not needed by everyone working there.

Saving Energy on Lighting

Many work premises use lighting systems that draw much more energy to keep the workplace lit than necessary. For lots of SMEs, it can be as simple as replacing standard light bulbs with LED versions, which use significantly less power. Making the most of any natural light available can also help keep those costs down.

If there are areas of the workplace where lighting is only needed at certain times, installing motion-sensor LED lighting will mean that the lights only come on when people are using that particular space and will automatically switch off when they leave the area. This function avoids wasting energy and can help SMEs save money on energy bills over time.

Heating and Cooling Energy Saving

The way in which a workplace is heated and/or cooled down can have a huge impact on energy use and can account for around 40% of all energy used by an office-based business, for example. This can be tricky to optimise because a comfortable working temperature for one person might not feel the same for another. Some general tips that can help with unnecessary energy use include:

• Make sure that heating and air conditioning systems are not being used in the same area at the same time.

• Check whether employee desks are placed appropriately to heating or cooling equipment e.g. too close or far away from radiators or air-con vents.

• Check that radiators can be adjusted individually if needed for individual employee preferences.

• Agree on a heating temperature in offices or other spaces where employees spend most of their time. A good temperature is often around 19°C. If parts of the workplace are not used as much, such as corridors, storerooms, meeting rooms or bathrooms, these can be set at a lower temperature if needed or not heated at all on days when they are not being used.

• Stop any draughts through doors and windows where heat is being lost. This can be done cost-effectively by using sealing strips. As always, any changes made to windows and doors in a workplace should be in accordance with fire safety advice for your specific building.

• If the building isn’t used at weekends or evenings, ensure that neither the heating nor cooling systems are timed to come on then.

Engage Employees on Energy Saving

One of the biggest factors in SME energy saving in the workplace is ensuring that employees are engaged with the plans and actively participate in reducing energy use too.

You can ask them for ideas to help save more energy at work and even appoint one or more ‘energy champions’ who have a real interest in taking positive action in this area. They can help generate more engagement with other employees and get more people involved with helping.

Some of the measures that employees can help with include:

• Participating in energy audits and tracking energy use at work, e.g., using smart plugs at desks to benchmark energy use.

• Taking responsibility for turning off their own monitors, computers and any other devices when leaving for the day, rather than leaving things on standby.

• Turning off lights in empty rooms.

• Avoiding printing or photocopying unless necessary, sharing files securely online instead to save energy.

• Unplugging any devices at their desks which aren’t in use.

• Turning off communal equipment at the end of the day e.g. photocopiers and printers.

To help keep employees motivated about saving energy, it’s great to communicate any successes i.e. reductions in usage, and you can also incentivise energy-saving behaviours at work with a reward or perks scheme.

Read more of our top energy saving tips for businesses.

SME Energy Saving in Different Industries

The industry you operate in and the building you work at will greatly impact your SME’s energy use. For example, a small office that hosts a few staff during standard 9-5 working hours, five days a week, is going to have very different energy use to a pub or restaurant that is open for 12+ hours a day, often for 6/7 days a week, and uses lots of energy to store, cook and serve food, drink and maybe even provide entertainment.

We’ve compiled some tips for various business types, utilising different kinds of premises.

Energy Saving for SMEs Operating in Residential Locations

Many SMEs operate out of buildings that were once residential and are surrounded by properties that people live in. These businesses often include things such as dentist surgeries, hair/beauty salons, dog groomers, local law firms, accountants etc.

This proximity can mean that the energy set-up in these buildings is closer to a residential one than a large-scale commercial business operating out of a warehouse or factory, for example. This can make it more straightforward to introduce some changes around energy use because it’s the kind of thing we’re used to doing at home. Some of the small but effective actions that can make a difference in energy use in these kinds of workplaces include:

• Using the building’s smart meter display unit to closely track usage and determine which activities or appliances use the most energy in real-time.

• Upgrading appliances or equipment when it comes to the end of its life with more energy-efficient models e.g. using laptops rather than desktops, and switching everything off at the end of each working day.

• Use Thermostatic Radiator Valves (TRVs) on radiators in individual rooms so that the temperature can be better controlled.

Energy Saving for SMEs in Construction and Manufacturing

Businesses operating in these sectors often work out of large buildings and can have some of the highest energy uses because they are often reliant on machinery and production processes that are power-hungry. This high consumption can make day-to-day energy saving a lot more challenging, but it’s usually possible to make some positive impact. We recommend:

• Auditing energy use to ensure equipment and processes are only being used when necessary, not wasting energy at other times.

• Optimise workflows during operational hours to maximise productivity. This might mean you can reduce the time that machinery needs to be active.

• Upgrade to more energy-efficient processes and machinery when replacing existing ones.

Energy Saving for Hospitality SMEs

For SMEs in the hospitality industry, there can be lots of energy demands to keep things running day-to-day, but there are likely to be some tweaks you can make to help reduce the amount used and save a bit on those business bills. These include:

Use light sensors to automatically turn low-energy LED lights off when not needed in areas used by staff and guests/customers.

When cooking food for customers, ensure the appliances are only on when used, and use residual heat when possible to finish meals.

Ensure that commercial fridges and freezers are set to the most energy-efficient temperatures for whatever you’re storing in them, and get them regularly serviced and cleaned so they run optimally.

Keep different areas of the building at an appropriate temperature e.g. commercial kitchens and gyms usually require less heating than hotel rooms or restaurants because the activities carried out in those spaces will help to heat the room, but changing rooms and showers/bathrooms may need to be higher.

Check Your Current Energy Supplier Contract

While changing your business’s energy usage habits is a great way to save money, you might be paying more than you need to for every unit of energy that your workplace uses already.

At BusinessComparison, we can quickly compare energy providers offering services to businesses in your location and find you the cheapest deal for business electricity and/or business gas. You can potentially even choose to use renewable business energy. These things combined can amplify the benefits of all the changes you’re making to the way you use energy at work, helping to maximise the savings that your company can make on your bills and helping the planet.