How to Reduce SME Energy Bills - a Professional’s Approach
Since 2019, we’ve audited hundreds of buildings for energy savings, via compliance schemes like ESOS (the Energy Savings Opportunity Scheme), funded by grant schemes or for clients keen to invest to find ways to save. On average, we find £10,000s of savings often with quick paybacks. Here are some of the top insights from our professional energy auditor on how to find savings :
Clarify your Objectives - what are you hoping to learn and what will you (or could you) change if you learn things? What if the heating system is on it’s last legs, e.g., - could you afford a new system and would you pay for something better than you have? Who needs to be consulted on any recommendations/ changes? When do you want better costs/comfort/carbon by? When could you change energy provider to get better tariffs?
Do your Homework - understand both how buildings are used, how they’re metered and what is working well or could work better. A clear picture of what users are experiencing and expect from a space helps to focus on what matters, be it a room that is ‘always too cold’ or ‘lights that never seem to go off’ or ‘no-one seems to know how the controls work’. These make for priorities for investigation of waste.
Get the Data - every energy supply should have a record of consumption & bills, whether that’s monthly readings or data (gas or electricity) or a purchase record (liquid fuels like LPG, propane, oil, etc). Putting these into a tool like Excel and showing consumption over time can help to spot interesting trends. Consider what use looks like when no-one is in the building, perhaps weekends or bank holidays (you’re not making use of the space, so why might it be costing you?) and how it varies during the working week, day or year ( especially if you have half-hourly metered data). This is where you’ll get some of your quickest savings, because there’ll be opportunities to reduce how long things are on for
Assess how energy systems are performing compared to what is needed/ desired - how is the lighting (at the right levels in the right places at the right times)? How is the temperature for your purposes? Is there enough fresh air? Do the right people know how to control energy systems (boilers, Aircon, lighting, etc) and are systems set up to be low-cost/ to avoid complaints/ on a default setting? If you have industrial processes, are systems being maintained regularly and do they meet or exceed performance requirements (e.g. pressure, temperature, heat, load)? This is where you’ll often find your biggest savings
Shortlist the projects you’ve discovered that fit the objectives, agreeing with the stakeholders what will make these worthwhile to pursue
Calculate costs and savings - using bills and other data (like emissions factors), plus quotes from installers, operating parameters etc, you can begin the process of creating business cases for each piece of work. Sometimes this can be easy (cost of a light fitting put in DIY, plus wattage before and after), but often it takes a more experienced understanding to establish and maximise savings
Measure the savings you’ve made, so that you can check your intervention worked, and get motivated to find more savings. This is important if you have long-term savings goals.
And if at any stage, you want to know more, we can of course help. Just use the ‘Contact Us’ button above!