Many British businesses have certainly suffered due to the economic downturn, so anything that can be done to reduce overheads is to be welcomed. Even if your company is lucky enough to not be in that situation, making your business leaner by reducing overheads will still improve profitability.
The majority of modern businesses’ have considerable fixed overhead costs incurred when powering IT. Most offices are equipped with a raft of PCs, MACs, laptops and other associated peripherals which all consume electricity, even when they are in standby mode.
Add in photocopiers, fax machines, other electrical appliances such as fridges and, of course the costs of running plant and machinery and you are looking at a high utility bill. So, follow a few of these tips on effectively and efficiently using your IT resources and other electrical appliances and you will soon be reaping the rewards in the form of reduced overheads.
During office hours, encourage workers to think about how they are using their computers. If spending prolonged periods away from the desk encourage staff to hibernate PCs, MACs or laptops on put them on an idling setting so that they use less energy. Better still, if they are away for a significant amount of time get them to power off their machines altogether.
In addition to doing all you can in the office to raise awareness about how to use computers and electrical appliances you will also find that power utility companies offer business energy management devices and schemes that enable you to understand where you power is consumed and allows you to take positive action to reduce your costs.
This service is offered to enable medium to large-sized businesses achieve their Carbon Reduction Commitment (CRC) which will come into effect in January 2010. It affects businesses that spend over £500,000 per year on electricity, but even if you do not fall into that category you may wish to give serious thought as to whether you can improve the efficiency of your company’s power consumption.
For example, when you leave the office don’t leave your computers and peripherals running overnight. Switch them off altogether or at the very least power off to standby or sleep modes before leaving the office. Unless you run a 24 hour hot-desking operation, your computers will only be required around eight hours per day, so by leaving them on when they are not being used is considerably increasing your utility burden.
Of course, this is merely a very brief overview of what can be done to save energy in the workplace, but there are many websites and relevant government bodies who can advise in depth, and may even be able to offer grants.
Article Source: Author: Paul Buchanan
