10 tips to save energy while working from home
- Thursday, January 2, 2025
- Posted By The Growth Company
Since the COVID-19 lockdown, many office workers have opted out of the commuting lifestyle and swapped it for hybrid working and setting up their own home offices. While it may mean you save money on travel, it means you’re using more energy at home and might see a lift in your energy bills. This isn’t ideal for you or the planet, so we’ve put together a few helpful tips to help you lower your energy bills and carbon footprint:
You can save up to £30 a year by switching devices straight off rather than leaving them on standby. Most electrical appliances can be turned off at the plug without affecting their programming but always best to check the instructions first.
Similarly, remember to unplug your phone, tablet, or laptop once they’re fully charged – that way, you avoid using unnecessary energy and your battery life will last longer as leaving devices to overcharge can damage the battery life.
More than half the money spent on household bills goes towards providing heating and hot water. You can save up to £80 a year by turning your heating down by just a few degrees. Installing a room thermostat or smart meter can help you have better control of the temperature of your heating - you can stay warm and cosy in your living room if you keep the temperature around 20°C, and your bedrooms a bit cooler around 16°C
If you’re working from home, pop on an extra jumper or thick socks to keep warm during the cooler months.
You can save up to £49 on your annual energy bills by switching off the lights and switching to energy saving light bulbs. Lighting our homes makes up about 10-15% of our energy bills, switching from traditional bulbs to energy saving bulbs can reduce this by a quarter, and save even more by relying on natural daylight where you can and turning off lights in unoccupied rooms.
While you might be tempted to set your washing machine to hot for every wash, you can get the same results by setting your washer to 30 or 40 degrees. Dryers take up a lot of energy too, so opt for hanging clothes outside if the weather is nice, or using a heater free standing drying rack in a ventilated room to get dry clothes quickly.
For your windows, consider fitting draught-proofing strips or brush strips for sash windows. For the doors, draught-proofing strips for gaps around the edges, and brush or hinged flap draught excluders on the bottom of doors – you can buy or make draft excluders to match your home décor. For an even bigger saving you could always consider professional draught-proofing.
Get acquainted with the eco settings on your appliances. Today’s dishwashers and washing machines usually feature environmentally friendly cycles that keep your items clean and your costs down. Usually they run for less time on lower settings so great for last minute too.
Not only does batch cooking lower food costs as you can make multiple meals from one set of ingredients, but it also uses less energy up. Reheating leftovers in a microwave takes up way less energy that cooking full meals on the hob or oven, so opt for leftovers for those quick midweek lunches.
Did you know it uses up more energy on both your laptop and online servers to take online meetings with your camera on? While some work places prefer it on, for those internal calls why not opt for no camera while you catch up with colleagues.
If you’re looking for a more drastic change, air source heat pumps are a renewable technology that can lower your home heating bills. They extract ambient heat from outside air, even at low temperatures, to provide space heating and hot water. Government grants are available to cover the upfront costs of installing an air source heat pump under the Boiler Upgrade Scheme until 2025.
Regular maintenance keeps systems and appliances working efficiently and safely. Make sure you have your boiler serviced annually and check that your radiators are correctly balanced. Make sure extractor fans are working effectively. Fridges and freezers operate better if defrosted and dust cleaned from condenser coils every six months.
Share this blog with your employees to support them while working from home and help them cut energy bills this winter.
To learn more about support available for businesses across Greater Manchester, visit our homepage.