At D-ENERGi we work hard to provide all our business customers with the best business energy prices. We work closely with many care homes and residential homes across the UK, to keep them warm, dry, and well-lit while offering the best rates for business energy.  Throughout the upcoming winter season, care homes will be paying close attention to energy consumption, ensuring that while residents are cared for, bills are not too high. In this latest blog we will offer our best advice to any business customers looking to save on business energy.  Take control of your business energy with a smart meter  Smart meters are not just for domestic energy customers. Business energy meters are now available for businesses across the country to take full control of their business energy. Helping to manage usage and lower prices. Not only will you be able to track your usage, but the data a smart meter for businesses provides will be automatically sent to your energy supplier, so you can be sure your bills are as accurate as can be. How to monitor your business energy consumption? If you are concerned you may be using more energy than the average company in your care home, it may be time to consider installing a business energy smart meter.  As previously mentioned, a business energy smart meter will help you monitor your energy usage, reviewing your consumption, giving you a chance to better manage your energy usage. You may also wish to speak with your energy supplier if you believe your bills are too high. It is advisable to read your bills thoroughly when you receive them to be sure the information provided is correct. If you do not understand how to read an energy bill this blog may help you. Ways to reduce your energy consumption  If you already have a smart meter installed in your care home and have noticed your energy consumption seems too high, here are some quick tips to help you better manage your energy consumption: Check the electrical appliances and the heating apparatus of your residential home to ensure these are working properly. Typically, newer appliances are far more economical.  Switch off electric equipment and tools when not in use. Although this may be difficult in a care home during winter, you may find there are many appliances that are regularly left running when not needed. This could include televisions, and radios.   Set a comfortable temperature on the thermostat and keep this regulated. Your residents will likely appreciate this also!  Create an energy saving culture amongst your employees. Encourage your care home staff to check thermostats regularly and switch off appliances between shifts. Why not speak to a member of our team for other top tips! For your free no obligation quote please call us on 0800 781 2700

Knowing the average energy consumption of a typical business, is a great way for small businesses to estimate their annual energy consumption. This helps when forecasting costs for the year and ensuring everything is budgeted for. Although the average figure will differ slightly depending on the size and type of business, our latest blog is taking a closer look at the average energy consumption of a small business, including figures for business electricity and business gas.  What is considered a small business? According to the UK government an SME (as they are referred to) are small to medium sized enterprises that have fewer than 250 employees and take in a turnover of less than £50 million. If a company has fewer than 50 employees with a turnover of less than £10 million, this is considered a small business. Those with less than 10 employees and a turnover of £2 million are considered to be micro businesses.  Small businesses in the UK will use between 15,000 kWh and 30,000 kWh of gas each year, and 15,000 kWh and 25,000 kWh of electricity a year when looking at the latest industry figures.  Different types of industries and their energy consumption  Of course, the industry your company is in will make a difference in the amount of energy you consume. For example, those working in manufacturing services will, on average, use more energy in comparison to other industries in the UK. Other high energy consuming industries include construction and agriculture.  According to data from the ONS, the service sector, which includes small businesses such as retail stores and restaurants saw a decrease in energy consumption in the period between 2019 and 2020 by 6%. This could be due to a change in consumer behaviour, with businesses becoming more aware of zero-carbon energy and the impact of fossil fuels on the environment. As part of efforts to go green and reduce business costs, many service-based small businesses will have lowered their energy consumption, reducing their annual usage.  How to monitor your business energy consumption? If you are concerned you may be using more energy than the average company in your sector, it may be time to consider installing a business energy smart meter.  Smart meters are not just for domestic households! A business energy smart meter will help you monitor your energy usage, reviewing your consumption, giving you a chance to better manage your energy consumption. Plus, all your readings will be automatically sent to your energy supplier, so you don’t have to worry about taking meter readings. This will help you to avoid overestimated energy bills and provide more accurate readings to your supplier.  If you would like to know more about business smart meters, get in touch with our team today!  What to do if your business energy consumption is too high  If you already have a smart meter installed in your small business and have noticed your energy consumption seems too high, here are some quick ways to reduce your usage: Carry out a thorough inspection of your business equipment, you may need to upgrade to more economical solutions.  Switch off electric equipment and tools when not in use! This includes lighting and heating, which will make up a large portion of your energy bills.  Set a comfortable temperature on the thermostat and keep this regulated.  Create an energy saving culture amongst your employees.  For other great tips on keeping your business energy consumption low, take a look at another of our great blogs!

On a mission to reduce the nation’s energy consumption, smart meters have been designed to provide accurate meter readings and a visual representation of real-time energy usage. They are the ideal solution for businesses and households hoping to get on top of their energy usage, manage this, and find solutions to reduce energy consumption.  The smart meter rollout  Starting in 2011, the smart meter rollout began. As of 2021, according to the most recent government statistics, in smaller, non-domestic sites (such as micro and small businesses) 145,900 smart and advanced meters were installed by all energy suppliers. This is a 48% increase on 2020, but is similar to figures last recorded in 2018 (pre-Covid).  As installations continue across the country, gas and electricity suppliers now have binding annual targets to achieve to ensure all their non-smart customers have smart and advanced meters installed by 2025.  Are people reluctant to install smart meters?  Although these figures are suggesting an uptake in smart meter installations, the majority of these meters are still yet to be installed.   This may be because there are several misconceptions surrounding the use of smart meters. A commonly asked question regarding these devices is whether or not they use more electricity.  Although it is true that your small device uses your electricity supply for power, the very small amount that it does use, does not counteract the benefits this device provides.  How do smart meters work? Smart meters work by measuring your gas and electricity usage and sharing this data directly with your energy supplier. This means no more electricity or gas meter readings. The smart meter does all this for you, sending accurate and regular readings to avoid estimated bills. A smart meter does not require internet access, instead they use the secure smart data network to share information about your usage. The system of which this works can be compared to how other wireless systems and devices use radio waves. Smart meters can be used in replacement of traditional meters, such as prepay meters.  Your smart meter comes in two parts; the smart meter and digital display. The smart meter will be fitted where your traditional meter is housed, while you can choose to place your digital display in an accessible place. This accompanying digital display will give you access to data about your electricity or gas usage. This will help you to manage your usage, with the intention of helping you cut back on usage and save money on energy bills.  Smart meters for small businesses  As small businesses feel the pinch of the rising cost of living, business owners are regularly seeking new tips and advice for saving money.  One way to do this is to pay closer attention to monthly bills and to find resources or techniques to reduce these costs, if possible. In a recent study by Smart Energy GB, 72% of small business owners have already made the switch to a smart meter or are considering doing so to manage their energy use at this difficult economic time.  It is simple to request a smart meter for your small business, if you haven’t done so already. As a D-ENERGi customer you have a choice of between two types of smart meters. These are an AMR meter or a SMETS2 meter. Both of which will offer similar benefits, although we do recommend referring to our handy table here, to familiarise yourself with these devices and to find the meter that is better suited to your requirements. For more information about smart meters for business, do not hesitate to get in touch with our friendly team.

Whenever you receive an energy bill, whether that is by post or via email, it may be tempting to put this to one side and ignore it. However, it is incredibly important to read your business energy bills when you receive them. This will help you to understand your energy usage and how your energy supplier has calculated your costs.  Our quick guide provides all the details you need to decipher your business energy bill and use this to your advantage.  How to break down your bill  Receiving a letter with numbers across the page, graphs and more, can make understanding your energy bill confusing. But, it doesn’t have to be. Being able to break down each section of your bill will simplify the information you have been provided. Bills will look slightly different, depending on who your supplier is. However, the majority of energy bills will display the following information in some format.  Your usage period – this will be a date range, indicating what period of time this bill is for. Usually this will be between several months.   The amount required – The total amount will be shown clearly on the page, this is the figure that you owe your energy supplier. Your energy consumption – Your energy bill will typically display the amount of energy you have consumed during this period. This will be measured in kilowatt hours (kWh).  Your meter readings – If you were providing your energy supplier with regular meter readings during this period, they will display your actual meter readings. If this was not the case they will display their estimated meter readings based on previous energy consumption. Your meter serial number must also be shown here, so be sure to check this is correct.  A breakdown of your bill – this will usually be included in your bill to further explain the figure you owe.  When you first receive your bill, you should read it through thoroughly and identify each of these key sections. If there is anything missing or information that you do not believe to be accurate, it is important that you get in contact with your energy supplier who can further explain this. If the meter serial number shown on your bill is incorrect, you must identify this immediately and let your supplier know, as they could be retrieving data from the wrong meter and making poor estimations.