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As summer rolls around, temperatures heat up and offices become warmer than ever. Ensuring you create a comfortable and pleasant environment for your staff is incredibly important, not just for their wellbeing but also for productivity and desire to be in the office. Since air conditioning is now a standard in most offices, they can quickly become dependable for supplying a cold blast of air when outdoor temperatures soar. However, despite the want for this, running an air conditioning system consistently for months can be costly.  So, with warmer weather on the way, we thought it was a good idea to delve into the energy consumption of air conditioning units and how best to use these in summer to save your business money. Helping you avoid high business energy costs.   How expensive are air conditioners to run?  Since there are a range of sizes and styles of air conditioners, the costs of running air conditioning will vary. However, some insights into this have indicated that this could be upwards of 43p an hour. Plus, with the current cost of energy, this could be even more.  Running this continuously throughout the working day could add almost £100 to your energy bill each month.   The optimal temperature for offices  While it may be incredibly warm outside and tempting to blast the office with cold air for several hours each day, the cost of this may be enough for businesses to reconsider.  But, how can you keep your office environment comfortable during such extreme summer heat?  Many of us will be all too familiar with the constant air conditioning debate at work. Turn it on or turn it off? Turn it up or turn it down? The truth is, it’s incredibly difficult to keep everyone happy. In fact different types of people prefer to be warm at work while others, cold. Plus, studies have shown that the temperature in working places does in fact impact productivity.  While there is currently no legal maximum temperature for working environments, however long over-due this may be, workplaces should ensure that the environment is ‘responsible’. Where temperatures do become unbearable, employers have a responsibility to offer staff regular breaks and a sufficient supply of free water. Some have suggested that keeping a constant and regulated temperature is the best solution, with many assuming the optimal working temperature to be somewhere between 22-24°C.   Avoiding big bills when using air conditioning Keeping your air conditioning on in summer whilst trying to manage your energy bills may seem like a task. Especially as teams fight over the temperature. With these tips, however, you can aim to keep your energy bills as low as possible, whilst still providing air conditioning to your employees.  Do not run the air conditioning system on an extremely low temperature  Turn off the air conditioning when it is not necessary  Make sure your AC unit is correctly installed Have the unit maintained and serviced regularly, especially before summer starts Ensure the room you are cooling isn’t subject to a large amount of direct sunlight as this will produce more work for the AC unit.   To keep a closer eye on your energy consumption and to monitor how different appliances may be affecting your energy bills, consider a business smart meter. For more information about this and the roll out scheme, do not hesitate to get in touch with our friendly team.

Technology and electronic devices now make up a huge part of many businesses’ assets. Helping to automate business processes and speed up what previously may have been repetitive and time-consuming tasks.  As the mainstream use of computers first hit the office floors in the 1980s, we’ve actually spent over three decades using technology in businesses and workplaces. Despite the advances we have made over these decades and the incredible benefits modern technology offers, many businesses still continue to utilise technology from way back when. Not only is this a hindrance to the business but can also be costly for both the business and the environment.   How outdated technology could be costing your business in energy  High energy bills may be a sign that the technology, devices, and appliances used in your business premises may require an upgrade.  Older technology such as outdated computers are more likely to produce excess heat, requiring more energy from the CPU (central processing unit) to keep the hardware cool and running efficiently. Not only this but the overheating of such devices can lead to slower performances, resulting in more time required to finish and complete a work task. This not only means the computer needs to be operating for longer (using more energy), but your staff and teams must spend more working time completing one task, hindering the efficiency of your business. Newer computers and devices have been designed to be far more energy efficient. Helping to keep your business energy costs down and your business running much more efficiently.   The impact old gadgets have on the environment  Digitalisation around the globe has resulted in an increase of greenhouse gas emissions over the past few decades. As we know, these harmful greenhouse gases are responsible for global warming and contribute to climate change. Energy consumption from devices not only adds to the cost of business energy bills, but will therefore increase your company’s impact on the environment.  In studies conducted by several research groups, including those from Rochester Institute of Technology in New York, findings indicate that switching to newer technologies and modern devices will help to reduce energy consumption by almost half. Providing a productive and effective solution for not only cutting business costs, helping the environment, but also modernising your workplace and providing employees with technology that works in their favour.  To assess just how much energy your technology may be consuming, it could be a good time to upgrade to a business smart meter. With a consumer access device you will be able to see exactly how much your technology impacts your energy consumption and the costs of this in real-time.

Planning for the future and predicting what may be coming isn’t an easy task but doing so can help a business financially. Preparing for an increase in costs by knowing when to set higher sales targets and push new marketing campaigns is an element of business that keeps things moving in the right direction. Without financial planning and forecasting a business can quickly find themselves in choppy waters.  Part of any financial planning should be expenses. Part of your expenses each month are your utility bills, of which your energy bills will be some of the biggest. If you run a small business and are directly involved in the payment of your energy bills each month, this blog may help shine some light on how to plan for fluctuations in energy costs and what you can do as a business to predict said fluctuations.    See your average spending with a business smart meter  A smart meter is a really useful tool for not only helping you track your energy usage but also predict how much energy you use on average during various points in your working day. Plus, reviewing the data from your business smart meter will help you identify months in the year where you may be spending more on energy and allow you to make predictions about upcoming months. Of course, this won’t give you an insight into energy wholesale prices or the costs associated with your particular provider, but it helps to give a good idea of what you could be using and spending on average.    Protect your business from volatile energy markets  Now more than ever it has become apparent just how quickly things can change for bill payers. Rising wholesale prices have led to a global energy crisis, hitting business and domestic customers hard. However, for those locked into a fixed-rate contract the impact of this is cushioned by the protection of the consistency of monthly bills. This is because a fixed-rate contract provides a locked-in rate per kilowatt hour.  By securing yourself into a fixed-rate contract with an energy provider, you can help to protect your business from the vulnerability of fluctuating energy markets. Which will allow you to make better predictions for your bills each month, particularly if you manage your energy consumption and use a consistent amount per hour, per day.  At D-ENERGi we offer fixed price electricity deals for business customers so you can know how much you will be paying on your monthly bill, with no nasty surprises! With this deal you can take the worry out of predicting your spending each month, with a direct debit that makes things hassle free! Give us a call today for your free quote.

Keeping your hotel and or restaurant well-lit, warm, and operating smoothly with the right tools is essential to impressing your guests. However, with the current energy costs soaring, it can be difficult to cover the bills.  As a business energy provider, we have been helping our customers manage their rising bills, offering our best tips and advice to help keep costs down. For the hospitality industry, lots of energy is required to offer the very best service, so keeping costs low can seem like a far greater challenge. However, with the right advice, you can aim to lower your energy consumption, thus managing your business electricity and gas bills. Below are some of the ways we would recommend managing your energy consumption and costs.   Schedule a business energy audit One of the first and most effective actions you can take as a business is to schedule an energy audit. As we have touched on in previous blogs, an energy audit will provide you with an assessment of your business’ energy consumption and energy efficiency. This information, provided by an external auditor or by a DIY checklist, will provide you with some initial recommendations that will help you to improve the energy efficiency of your business. This information will be unique to your business type and also the premises, meaning the steps you choose to take will be effective.    Monitor your heating and cooling systems  Any modern hospitality business, whether you run a restaurant, bar or hotel, will have heating and cooling systems in place. Perfect for maintaining a comfortable climate for your guests and staff, however these systems can impact your energy costs quite considerably! To ensure you are not overusing these systems and wasting money on heating and cooling your business, be sure to monitor these closely. Most systems will allow you to set a regular temperature. We would recommend staying between 18-20 degrees celsius when heating your premises.    Maintain your commercial fridges  Commercial fridge freezers consume far more energy than the standard domestic fridge freezer, making these a costly expense. However, commercial fridges are essential in the daily running of a commercial kitchen or bar. In order to maintain your fridges whilst reducing your energy consumption and keeping your bills low, we would suggest having these services regularly, whilst also ensuring they are not left open for long periods of time. Servicing a fridge can make a huge difference in the quality of its output, meaning the fridge won’t have to consume excess amounts of energy to maintain a regular, cool temperature.    Shutdown unused electrical equipment  Throughout a large hospitality business, such as a hotel, you may find lots of electrical equipment and tools that are consuming electricity but do not need to be. This is where the energy audit comes into play again. An energy audit could help identify these electrical items, giving you an idea of just what and how many electrical appliances may not need to be switched on permanently. Simply shutting down these items could make a real difference to your bills.    Motivate your staff to save energy while on shift  A positive attitude amongst your staff regarding energy saving and sustainability will support your business in its efforts to cut down consumption. Promoting this amongst your teams can be as simple as creating a checklist of electrical appliances to monitor, communicating your goals with your staff, asking your staff for ideas, and ensuring every team member is involved.  For more information about your business energy bills or to discuss options for cutting energy consumption, do not hesitate to get in touch with the D-ENERGi team.

It’s easy to get overwhelmed while wading through the energy industry. Whether you’re looking for a new supplier or simply trying to understand your business’ energy bill, there’s lots of new terminology to grasp. From understanding definitions, processes, and terminology – it can quickly feel like you’re trying to understand a foreign language. If you’ve ever found yourself wondering what is meant when we talk about ‘capacity’ or ‘demand’, then this post is for you! Here’s a helpful glossary of terms commonly used within the energy industry so that you have all the knowledge needed to make better-informed decisions on your business energy requirements. Below we have provided an A-Z style of glossary to help explain some complicated and good-to-know terms.    Agreed Capacity  This is the agreed amount of electricity load that can be supplied to a property. If you are renting or newly purchasing a property for your business operations this will be stated in your property’s Connection Agreement with the local DNO*.   Automatic Meter Read (AMR) An automatic meter read is taken by a system that takes meter readings remotely. This data will be passed onto your business energy supplier for billing purposes.   Biomass Biomass energy or bioenergy, as it can often be referred to, is an energy sourced from organic materials, this includes matter from recently living organisms such as plants. This is considered a ‘carbon neutral’ method of generating energy.    Carbon Credits  Carbon credits are a rising form of credit that can be purchased on the voluntary carbon market. These are used to permit owners an allowance of carbon dioxide emissions. Also known as carbon offsets. Many businesses are now opting voluntarily to buy carbon credits in order to develop a ‘green business strategy’ that coincides with government plans to achieve net zero carbon.    Carbon Neutral  Carbon neutrality means reaching a state in which there are net-zero carbon dioxide emissions. This can be achieved by either balancing the total amount of carbon dioxide removed with the total emitted or by completely eliminating the emission of CO2 from within society. Both are something governments across the world are hoping to achieve, as agreed.    *District Network Operator (DNO) A district network operator or DNO is responsible for the installation and maintenance of electrical cabling, as well as the distribution of electricity to the supply point of the grid.  If you are attempting to contact your DNO, one way you can do this is by looking them up using your location information, such as postcode. Each district will have a different DNO.    Fixed Term Contracts A fixed term contract is a supply contract decided with your energy provider for a fixed price over a fixed period of time.    Greenhouse Gas (GHG)  A GHG is simply a type of gas found in the atmosphere that traps heat. The main GHGs found in Earth’s atmosphere are water vapour, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and ozone.

As the world continues to deal with the rising cost of gas, energy prices are not taking any dramatic falls just yet. While we navigate this new ‘normal’, businesses across the country will be particularly concerned about paying this winter’s energy bill. Some of the highest consuming industries in the UK include the retail and services sector, as well as the manufacturing industry. Consuming over 10,000 Ktoe each year. In this latest blog article, we will be offering some top tips, unique to a range of industries, on how to deal with rising energy prices. Retail & Hospitality Sector  As one of the largest consumers of energy in the UK, the retail and hospitality industry will have continued to use a large amount of energy this winter, despite rising costs. In order to keep customers satisfied, retail stores must continue to keep lit, heated and running as always. While restaurants require large amounts of energy to produce dishes, make drinks, and entertain guests. Despite this, there are a number of tips that retail and hospitality businesses can take on board in order to cut energy consumption and costs. Firstly, these businesses should be paying close attention to the energy markets. Having the knowledge and understanding of energy prices and knowing how to predict fluctuations in the market will support financial planning within the business. Although you can never predict unexpected global events, like the Ukraine invasion, companies can use what they currently do know to ensure they have the budget set aside to pay higher bills than usual. Secondly, restaurants in particular, should consider cutting down on the use of heating systems. With plenty of equipment in use and a crowded venue, restaurants don’t necessarily need to have the thermostat set to high. Instead it is useful to keep this set to a regular temperature that is comfortable for both guests and staff. Both retailers and hospitality businesses will also benefit from switching off appliances and equipment that is not needed. For example a back office computer that is only used at closing time or televisions in hotel reception areas that do not need to be turned on 24/7. Manufacturing & Warehousing  The manufacturing industry is another example of a big energy consumer in the UK. Responsible for the production and distribution of a wide range of products made and handled within the country, the industry uses a large number of machinery and equipment which requires lots of energy. As such, businesses within this sector are feeling the pinch. Where many appliances are used, a manufacturer may wish to consider reviewing the equipment and tools they currently use and optimise these. Either by buying new or upgrading to more efficient, energy-saving equipment. This could be as simple as adapting the settings of your machinery to run more efficiently or having these serviced by an engineer. Since warehouses and distribution centres are such large places, keeping these warm on colder days can be a challenge. Instead of turning up the heating system, it may be worth reviewing the insulation of your building. You will find large warehouses often have draughty spots or poorly insulated roofs and windows. By investing in new insulation now, you can help correct and enhance the working temperature of your warehouse for years to come. One final tip for businesses within the manufacturing sector, is to pay attention to the industrial doors you have fitted throughout your buildings. In rooms that must be temperature-controlled, such as refrigerated storage rooms, the industrial doors should be of a high-quality. This is to ensure these rooms stay cold and the cooling systems do not need to work overtime to ensure the preservation of goods stored within. To enhance the operation of your industrial doors, be sure to have these regularly serviced and maintained by professional, qualified engineers. Office-based Businesses  With offices all over the country, we thought it best to also touch on how an office-based business can focus their attention on cutting energy this year. If you work in an office, you will most certainly know the struggle of maintaining a consistent temperature that keeps everyone happy. And although some would love the office to feel like a sauna, other members of staff prefer the room on the fresher side. All this switching between temperatures does not have a great impact on energy usage. In fact, regularly playing with the thermostat can waste energy, money, and lead to breakdowns. In order to keep everyone happy, keeping your office at a regulated, comfortable temperature is imperative. It has been suggested that temperatures between 21 – 22°C is best for office work. In fact, managers will be interested to know that temperatures above 23°C may actually have a negative effect on productivity. We would also suggest turning off any office equipment that is not in use, off at the end of each working day. It is not necessary to have laptops and screens running all through the night and simply costs the business money. For more advice and information about your business energy usage and prices, do not hesitate to get in touch with our team. We can talk about the current support on offer for businesses and provide information on business smart meters for even closer monitoring of your business energy usage.