As school budgets continue to be extremely tight, we understand that many schools are looking for ways to reduce long term costs. For example, did you know that buildings on average waste 40% of the energy they consume – that’s a lot of energy which equates to a significant proportion of your energy bill.
So, we have put together 10 top tips for schools to save money on their energy bills:
- Reduce wasted energy – switch off lights and computers when not in use and avoid leaving equipment on standby.
- Take control – use temperature controls for your heating and perhaps reduce the temperature during holidays and evenings when the buildings are not in use.
- Make the switch – switching to LED lighting is currently by far one of the most cost-effective energy-saving measures offering savings up to 80% and with funding available to support schools.
- Regular servicing – servicing your heating appliances is important to ensure they are running efficiently as they can cost up to 30% more to run if not running effectively.
- Smarter energy use – adopting smart technology can reduce your energy consumption. These include installing smart controls/technology for lighting and heating, eg motion sensors on your lighting – the lights will turn on when someone is using the space which will reduce the cost of lighting being left on unnecessarily.
- 1 degree – setting your heating 1 degree lower in winter can reduce the energy costs by up to 10%.
- Monitoring – monitoring your energy consumption using either a smart meter or a half-hourly meter can result in finding ways to reduce consumption through spotting any anomalies and areas of wastage.
- Review your energy contract – you may be paying more than you need to on your energy bills so it is worth reviewing your energy contract even if you are still in contract with your current supplier. Energy suppliers often fail to let you know that your contract has ended and move you on to a more expensive contract and in these circumstances big savings can be made.
- Energy generation – Generating your own energy or heat could save you money and help the sustainability of your school. There are financial schemes available that can help support you with these. Solar PV is the most widely suitable technology as many schools have roof space that could be utilised. Biomass boilers to produce heating and hot water can be a viable option if your premises allow for it.
- Seek help – if you are thinking of exploring any of these options above, get in touch with us as we can help you. We aim to help as many schools as possible in reducing their energy costs and achieve the vital savings that they need to make.
We have been supporting schools for many years to access the funding available to them and we will provide a no-cost to you survey to assess your school’s needs. And as some of these savings can be significant it is worth exploring them as soon as possible so that you can save money straight away especially when there are funding options available with no upfront costs.
