If like us you are following the advice from the government, you’re probably adapting to working from home, rather than in the office. For some of you, your business may remain open as it’s an essential service or can’t fully operate when employees are working from home, you may be operating on a reduced format. During this time of uncertainty there are some simple steps you can take to avoid paying more than you should be for our energy.
Consider switching your heating and appliances to the frost protection setting. This feature will ensure your boiler or heating system only turns on if the temperature drops below a certain level. If needed it will heat it up until the risk of freezing has been prevented. This simple change can help reduce consumption levels, prevent you from heating a building which isn’t being used whilst protecting the technology itself, so you don’t encounter hefty replacement bills further down the line.
We’ve talked about this in a previous blog but ensuring equipment is switched off properly can reduce bills significantly. Not only is it important to make sure computers are properly shut down, it’s worthwhile turning them off at the plug where possible. You may want to leave alarms and CCTV equipment running but where you can turn off anything which is not essential including screens, printers and televisions.
You may want to check all air conditioning units and ventilation systems are switched off as well. If you have any server rooms with air conditioning units, you should probably check with your IT staff before changing any settings in these rooms.
To ensure you are only paying for the energy you use it’s vital to take and submit regular meter readings. If you can do this weekly, that’s what we would recommend in order to accurately track your consumption. Without meter readings you will not receive accurate bills and you may end up paying more than you need as suppliers won’t consider that your business might be running at reduced capacity.
Ensure you don’t allow your contract end date to pass without negotiating a new term. Very high ‘Out Of Contract’ rates will be billed until a new contract term is agreed. Some suppliers have already indicated they will only offer renewal contracts for the foreseeable future, so your options may be limited.
Wholesale electricity and gas prices have recently reached their lowest point in a decade. This makes it an excellent time to secure good prices for contracts that are coming up for renewal in the next few months and for those who may wish to look well into 2021 and 2022 in order to achieve good savings.
It may be hard to believe it right now, but this lockdown will end, and we hope that most businesses will be back to trading as usual. Physical distancing has left many of us with time on our hands so why not consider this an opportunity to review your business and make positive changes.
Review your business and marketing plans. Take a critical look at your website, is there anything that can be changed or improved? Clear out your emails and get your admin organised. We all have that inbox we avoid checking or emails we’ve been putting off replying to. Why not use this time to get on top of all the jobs you’ve been putting off so that when ‘normality’ returns you feel refreshed and ready to tackle it head on.
Although it may not feel like it, now is the ideal opportunity to future proof your business. Reducing costs such as energy, getting strategic plans in place and organising your admin are just some of the ways to help you do this!
