Westward Group Alternatives: How to Reduce Energy Consumption in the Office

When it comes to cutting operational costs in the office, one of the most obvious ways to go is to reduce the electricity bill. It's awfully important to look closely at your energy expenditure, especially since it will probably mean a lot of savings in the long run.

To give you some tips on how to save your money and help the environment, here are a few small things you can change in your office courtesy of Westward Group Alternatives.


* Temperature

- When it's cold, keep the curtains or windows wide open so the heat from the sun can help out your heating system.

- When you do use air conditioning, make sure that doors and windows are closed so that the cold won't disperse in a much wider area than necessary.

- Adjust the thermostat whenever people go on break or go home -- a change of a couple of degrees for a few hours can already make a big difference.

- Instead of AC, use a cooler or an electric fan to cool the room.

- Ensure that your heating and cooling system gets a check-up every 6 months so problems can readily be identified and repairs done before more energy goes to waste.


* Lighting

- Make use of the natural daylight whenever possible. Just by opening up the blinds or windows you can take advantage of this free source of light and reduce the heat emission at the same time.

- Instead of lighting up a whole room, switch an overhead lamp during overtimes.

- Identify the correct level of brightness in a particular area. Just like how too little light can cause eye strain, so is too much light.

- Choose lighting fixtures that are more energy-efficient. For instance, fluorescent lamps consume less than half of the energy that an incandescent lightbulb does; plus, it lasts much longer.

- Always turn off the lights when not in use and make sure that lights outside are only turned on when needed.


* Others

- Set your desktops or laptops to hibernate when not in use, or better yet, turn off the display before you get up your seat. The monitor consumes a large amount of energy so putting up that cool screensaver is not actually going to do your electricity bill any good.

- You might also consider investing on so-called 'green' alternatives for your major equipment like airconditioning and computers. It might cause you a little more than usual upfront but you can save in your electricity bill for months to come, based on a Westward Group Alternatives report.

- Unplug any charger that's completed its job or else it will continue to draw energy. On the same note, manually unplug any machine or equipment before you close shop. Any plug that's connected to an AC is still consuming a small amount of energy, even though it is turned off.