Lighting can make up 10-25 percent of your business energy bill. Reducing your energy consumption through your use of lighting may help you save on business costs.
Here are some ways to implement energy savings with your lighting.
Switch off the lights
As lighting can use up a significant amount of energy in commercial premises, don’t waste energy by lighting a space you’re not using.
Turn off the lights at the end of the day, weekends, and holiday periods, and encourage your staff to turn off the lights when they leave a room.
Install sensor lighting to ensure lights don’t get left on when people leave the room. This can help reduce energy consumption and may help your business save money in the long term. Light sensors can be good for rooms that don’t get used all day, such as meeting rooms, bathrooms, or the kitchen.
During the day, take advantage of natural light. Keep curtains and blinds open during the day to let in more natural light so you’ll be less tempted to turn the lights on. Install skylights if you’re able to, and move anything that blocks out light and maximise natural lighting by optimising your lighting layout.
Upgrade your lighting
Upgrading your lighting may help reduce your energy bill, reduce maintenance costs, and lower the carbon footprint of your business.
Switching to LED lighting can be one of the easiest ways to upgrade the lighting within your business.
There are potential long-term savings to be gained from switching to LED lights. LED lighting is significantly more energy efficient than fluorescent or halogen lighting. They produce less heat and last longer, which can reduce maintenance costs, and also help lower greenhouse gas emissions.
Remove any unnecessary lighting within your workplace, and lower lighting levels in any overlit areas, especially during the day when it may not be necessary.
Government subsidies for commercial lighting upgrade
Australia has committed to reducing its carbon emissions by 65 percent by 2030. To support this goal, each state has an energy saving initiative or scheme designed to lower energy consumption.
The Australian government provides subsidy packages in the form of rebates or grants which significantly reduce the costs of products and installation for your LED lighting upgrade. This is to encourage Australian businesses to invest in energy efficient products.
The Victorian Energy Upgrades program (VEU) makes it cheaper and easier for eligible Victorian businesses to make energy efficient upgrades, such as LED lighting upgrades. The New South Wales government has implemented the Energy Savings Scheme (ESS) as a part of the Energy Security Safeguard to encourage businesses to invest in energy savings projects by providing financial incentives.
Approved suppliers, like the Green Guys Group, work with businesses to determine how much energy could be saved with an energy efficiency upgrade.
Green Guys Group
When you invest in an LED lighting upgrade, Green Guys Group will calculate the reduction in energy consumption during an assessment. For each tonne of greenhouse gas abated, the Green Guys Group in partnership with an Accredited Provider will create one Victorian Energy Efficiency Certificate (VEEC). Liable third parties such as energy retailers then purchase these VEECs. The value of the VEECs is eventually returned to you in the form of a discount or rebate towards the total lighting upgrade cost.
Rebates are currently very generous, resulting in very low cost or free LED upgrade options.
To find out more about how to save on your business energy costs, contact the team at Next Business Energy.