How to improve your business energy efficiency to reduce costs

Business energy efficiency isn’t about switching lights off and watching your usage drop.

It’s about achieving the same productivity in your organisation while using less energy. It’s about squeezing every ounce of value out of every unit of energy you’ve paid for.

Improving energy efficiency doesn't necessarily mean you need to make countless expensive upgrades or changing the fundamentals of how your business operates.

Small wins can accumulate to make a big difference and reduce your costs.

In this article:

• Learn what business energy efficiency is - and isn’t.
• Understand how your business could be wasting energy usage.
• Discover practical ways to reduce costs through efficient energy usage.

What does business energy efficiency really mean?

Business energy efficiency isn’t just about using less energy. It’s about using energy in a smarter way.

We won’t suggest your teams work in the dark or without heating, and we certainly won’t recommend switching off that energy-intensive equipment your company simply can’t function without.

However, changing working practices, upgrading equipment and using technology to monitor how your processes affect energy usage could all lead to reduced costs.

Why should businesses improve energy efficiency?

Energy is already expensive enough without paying for units of it that don’t add any value to your business.

Improving your energy efficiency offers several tangible benefits, including:

• Reduce your operating costs.
• Protect your business against market volatility.
• Improve your profitability.
• Lower your carbon emissions.
• Demonstrate your sustainability credentials to customers and suppliers.
• Support compliance with certain energy and environmental regulations.

Where do businesses waste the most energy?

Every business is different, but some of the most common sources of wasted energy include:

• Heating and cooling: Nobody wants to work on an uncomfortably warm or cold site, but these systems are often not optimised for downtime. Running them outside of working hours or at unreasonable levels can cost a huge amount.
• Lighting: Similarly, lighting left on in empty rooms or older, inefficient fittings can add unnecessary units of energy to your bill.
• Office equipment: Equipment left on during inactive periods such as overnight or during weekends can rack up hefty bills.
• Poor maintenance: Older or poorly maintained equipment can often consume more energy than modern equipment designed with sustainability in mind.
• Compressed air leaks: In manufacturing environments, leaking compressed air can waste this precious commodity that requires lots of energy to produce.
• Poor insulation: Allowing heat to escape during colder months can waste the energy you’ve already paid for.

Four quick wins to reduce costs today

1. Replace incandescent lightbulbs with LED: Replacing traditional lighting with LEDs can reduce lighting electricity consumption by up to 90%, often delivering a relatively quick return on investment.
2. Switch off computers and lights out of working hours: Switching computers off outside working hours and enabling standby features can reduce the cost of running to less than £10 a year per item and prolong the equipment’s lifespan.
3. Engage your team to join in: Switching off your own equipment helps, but encouraging your whole team to buy in will multiply the benefits. It may be tricky to shift the culture, but getting creative can help build support.
4. Review heating/cooling controls: You may have set and forget temperature controls years ago without ever adjusting them. Lowering heating or cooling systems slightly or adjusting operating schedules can reduce unnecessary energy use without affecting comfort.

Three bigger investments to reduce costs in future

Larger projects usually require more upfront investment but can deliver substantial long-term savings.

• Smart controls: Installing smart lighting and heating system controls can help you manage all the energy-intensive systems with greater convenience and flexibility to suit operating times.
• Improve your building: Better insulation, upgraded glazing and improved building controls can reduce heating and cooling costs for years to come.
• Upgrade inefficient equipment: Replacing older heating systems, air conditioning, refrigeration or manufacturing equipment can significantly reduce ongoing energy consumption.

How do you know if your business is energy efficient?

You can’t improve what you don’t measure.

Without monitoring energy usage, many businesses don't realise how much these small inefficiencies add up over time.

For starters, you can simply review and monitor energy bills to check for usage spikes. Smart meters are great for identifying usage patterns and trends.

Simple benchmarking against previous years can be used to assess the impact of any efficiency measures you take.

Some businesses also benefit from professional energy audits, which provide a detailed assessment of where energy is being used and where savings could be made.

This article is part of our Business Energy Basics series. Now read...

How we can help

Business energy is complex. We get it. We can support you.

Troo exists to help businesses make sense of their energy needs. We simplify information and help you make smart decisions that manage costs and lead to real change.

We are not here to sell you a quick fix. We're here to understand what matters to you, offer clear advice, and take ownership of the hard parts, so energy becomes one less thing to worry about.

Book a free energy health check today for practical advice on business electricity, gas and water procurement, renewable consultancy and our ongoing management services.