Wallace & Gromit set energy saving example
ENERGY giant npower is urging small businesses to join Wallace and Gromit in the npower Big Switch Off and save up to £28m on energy bills this Christmas.
The latest adventure sees the animated pair battling against the ravages of high energy costs as they run their bakery Top Bun.
The much anticipated film ‘A Matter of Loaf and Death’ will be aired on Christmas Day.
Latest research suggests British businesses could be wasting up to £7m a day over the Christmas break through poor energy efficiency.
The Carbon Trust estimates small businesses could save as much as 10% on energy bills simply by taking a number of no cost actions to reduce energy use.
npower said that with many businesses choosing to close down for at least four days this year – many longer – it’s the perfect opportunity to make some big savings.
What’s more it need not involve one of Wallace’s elaborate contraptions to make significant cost savings. Just switching off a photocopier overnight can save enough energy to make 300 cups of tea.
Steve Fitzsimons, business relationship manager from npower, said:
“All that’s needed before leaving work this Christmas is to switch off non-essential equipment such as lighting, computers and photocopiers as well as reducing heating when buildings are empty to cut energy bills.
“While Wallace & Gromit run into challenges of a different kind, many of the UK’s small businesses are facing mounting pressure to manage costs during the financial downturn. Improving energy efficiency by switching off equipment is a quick and easy way to cut energy bills at a time when many businesses are looking to save whatever they can.”
Other top tips for saving energy this Christmas include:
Cut lighting costs by as much as 15%: make sure you turn lights off in rooms and corridors that aren’t being used.
Don’t turn up the heating unless you really need to: your heating costs will go up by 8% each time you increase the temperature by just one degree.
Regularly maintain your heating equipment: you could be adding as much as 10% to your heating bill without knowing it.
A single computer and monitor left on 24 hours a day will cost over £50 a year. Switching them off out of hours and enabling standby features could reduce this to £15 a year for each computer.
Replace high wattage filament lamps or tungsten halogen lamps with compact fluorescent lamps or metal halide lamps to give energy savings of 65-75%.
npower’s e3 (energy, efficiency and the environment) provides advice and guidance for businesses wanting to save energy including a website full of top tips to cut energy bills: www.npower.com/e3
