Fossil fuels are regularly being formed by means of natural processes, yet they aren’t renewable sources. It can take millions of years for fossil fuels to form and the newly-created reserves are used a lot faster than they are created. The more electricity is consumed, the faster the natural resources are depleted.
The question now is: should a business be energy-conscious? Sure, it should. In addition to the fact that being energy-efficient is the key to being competitive in the Canadian marketplace, it helps the business save money on utility bills. When you have a home-based business, you have to do whatever it takes to pinch pennies. There are many things that you can do to lower energy bills and save resources without compromising comfort or business productivity.
Businesses, even those that are located in the owner’s home, are not the same thing as homes in the sense that they consume more energy. This means that they need a different approach to saving energy. Keep on reading to find out how you can reduce expenses in doing business.
Get a professional sustainability assessment
Contrary to popular opinion, not all home-based businesses are the same. Actually, they are very different. In order to reduce your energy bills, you have to understand how much energy you’re consuming in the first place. Take into consideration aspects like the size and features of your dwelling, how much of the home you really use to run your business, whether or not you’re using energy-efficient appliances, and the way in which you manage the gear. Ideally, you should get a professional energy audit. This is basically an evaluation of the energy needs and efficiency of the building.
Energy efficiency measures represent a financial decision. This is the reason why you need to have a clear idea of what is going on prior to making investments. You need to be sure that you can maximize the money that your company has invested. The energy audit will enable you to reduce costs within the home, improve the competitiveness of your company, not to mention reduce the natural consumption of resources. What is more, the energy audit will come in handy when you have to develop measures to eliminate waste, augment efficiency, and, last but not least, make the most effective use of energy. That is something, right?
Use power management software
Working from home is a great thing. However, when the cold weather hits in winter, you’ll regret your decision. The provider doesn’t care that you’re not rich. You have to pay your bills just like everybody else. While you can’t eliminate the energy bill, you can reduce it significantly. How? With power management software. More than half of the power consumed by your personal computer is lost through heat. Power management software has been created to reduce this kind of loss. The mechanism for the control of power use of computer hardware places the equipment in the lowest power demand state ever.
It’s needless to outline the benefits of using power management software. You have the possibility to view the energy usage to the last detail, not to mention that you’re able to reduce demands at peak periods. You don’t put your system to sleep unless you have to. The result is that a great deal of energy is consumed and the utility bills become scary. The power management system will track the performance of your electrical system and equipment, so you have nothing to worry about. As far as the impact on performance is concerned, it’s minimal.
Better insulate your home
It’s no secret that the price of electricity is getting higher and higher. People in Canada pay slightly more for electricity and it’s a mystery why. It probably has something to do with the carbon-tax plan. If you want to say goodbye to high electric bills, insulate your home. Chances are that your dwelling already benefits from insulation. This may be true, yet you need to know that it’s not enough. Adding more insulation will help you become energy-efficient and, of course, save money on monthly expenses. With each step up in R-value, the potential savings increase. This is what Great Northern Insulation contractors tell us.
Air leaks through the home’s enclosures, that is windows, outer walls, doors and similar openings. Insulation is sort of like a barrier between heat loss and heat gain. To be more precise, it limits the transfer. The right amount of insulation can really make a difference in your utility bills. Make sure that you’ve got enough insulation and that there are no air leaks in the home. It’s a good idea to test your home for air tightness first. This will help you determine the level of uncontrolled air flowing through the cracks in the property.
Switch to LED lights
Everybody is familiar with LED lights—in other words, the small electrical diodes that emit a soft light. Besides the fact that the light is easier on the eyes, LED lighting has a longer service life as compared to other lamps and fixtures, having a life expectancy of about 50,000 hours. Therefore, you don’t have to pay too much for maintenance. It will be a long time before you have to replace the LED lights in your home-based business. Owing to an advancement in technology, the light bulbs are more durable and they don’t cause environmental damage.
LED lighting will help your home-based business be more efficient. The lighting solution will make a difference in any room of the house, so you get the greatest efficiency. It’s true that, in spite of the prices falling rapidly, LED lights are a little bit expensive, but they’re worth the cost. In the future, more and more businesses will use LEDs. Companies no longer disregard this method of illumination. In fact, they have understood that it’s impossible to grow their businesses if they don’t take measures to become energy-conscious. It’s better to stick with the trend.
