Five technologies that can cut your business power bills

START saving money today by wising up to these five ways to cut your energy bills.

AGL's Mark Brownfield with energy-saving technologies

BUSINESS owners have been given some breathing space by the removal of the carbon tax, but energy expenses remain one of the biggest drains
on their budgets.

Fortunately, technological improvements are making it easier to monitor, control and cut the cost of power.

“There is always pressure on costs and energy is a big part of the outgoings of a small business,” says Mark Brownfield, AGL’s general manager of marketing
and retail.

“Anything they can do to reduce their costs improves their competitiveness.”

And, unlike extra revenue that attracts income tax, cost savings are tax free.

Here are five technologies that can help business owners save big bucks on their
power bills.

1 SMART MONITORING

Larger energy companies offer their customers online monitoring of their daily power use. Brownfield says this tech-nology is “generally free” and wasn’t available two years ago.

Mike Chalmers, the founder of buying service Buyologists, says smart meters and sensors can provide consumption data right down to the use of individual equipment.

“This can be combined with products such as smart power strips,” he says.

“Smart power strips work to reduce your power usage by automatically shutting down power to products that go into standby mode, which can account for as much as five to 10 per cent of their energy consumption.”

2 EFFICIENT EQUIPMENT

“Using office equipment more efficiently can significantly reduce your power bills,” Chalmers says.

“For instance, laptops use up to 90 per cent less energy than a standard desktop computer, while LCD flat screens use roughly half the amount of electricity as a cathode ray tube (CRT) monitor.

“Leaving screen savers on is a huge power drain.”

He says business owners should make sure all office equipment is energy star compliant and has been set up so it automatically switches into sleep mode when not  being used.

3 SOLAR PANELS

Chalmers says solar systems are particularly suited to businesses because most use the bulk of their energy during daylight hours, and the cost of solar energy systems has plummeted in recent years.

“Many businesses are now able to pay back the cost of a solar system in anywhere between two and five years,” he says. “Solar providers have also introduced financing arrangements where you can often pay nothing upfront and then make regular payments to pay off the system that are lower than your previous electricity bills from day one.”

Brownfield says it is important to understand the financial options when going solar, and some providers now offer leasing where the cost of the system is shared.

4 LED LIGHTING

“In a business, a lot of the time the lights are on all day,” Brownfield says. “Changing halogen to LED lights cuts about 80 per cent of the consumption.”

LED globes last longer than traditional globes and the payback time is usually less than three years, he says.

“Lighting can account for up to 40 per cent of energy costs in commercial buildings.”

“Switching to LED – light emitting diode – lighting is often the quickest and simplest action any business can take to reduce their energy consumption.”

5 ADVANCED APPLIANCES

Old appliances are often power guzzlers, so choosing technologically advanced heating, cooling, hot water and fridges can save plenty,

“When buying, select an appliance based on efficiency,” Brownfield says.

“If you get something cheap, it’s generally going to cost you more to run.”