Tips for reducing utility bills
Almost every business pays more than it needs to in utility bills. Conducting a utility audit might seem like a time consuming distraction but you could be pleasantly surprised by how much it adds to your bottom line.
Use the checklist below to identify potential savings for your business:
| Tick | |
| Have a member of staff responsible for checking all utility bills - Make sure they know how the bills are calculated, what tariffs are available, etc. | |
| Carry out your own readings of all energy and water meters each month - Use the information to plot patterns of use | |
| Check that all utility bills are accurate and that any estimates are reasonable - Even the largest utility companies make mistakes | |
| Annually review the tariffs you use - Not only do your usage patterns change, your suppliers also change the deals they offer | |
| Monitor overnight energy usage - Check if it is being used by essential equipment and if so that you have the best overnight tariff | |
| Make the best use of cheap rate electricity - If you can arrange usage by water heaters etc so that 15% of total electricity usage occurs during off-peak hours, you might benefit from switching to a day/night tariff | |
| If you are on a Maximum Demand tariff, review your supply capacity - If your declared supply capacity is more than 15% higher than your highest Maximum Demand, contact your supplier to have it lowered | |
| Find ways to reduce usage during peak hours - Try rescheduling non-essential loads | |
| If you are on a monthly tariff, check your power factor - Check that you are not being penalised for a poor power factor | |
| Shop around for a cheaper electricity and/or gas supplier - find out more at http://www.energywatch.org.uk/ | |
| If your site has more than one gas meter, make sure they are aggregated for billing purposes - This can reduce both standing and unit charges and could lead to a better rate | |
| Make sure your water meter is the right size - Standing charges are calculated according to meter size - don't pay for an unnecessarily large one |