Are You Wasting Energy in Your Business With These Common Electrical Mistakes?

One of the prime reasons to own a business is to make money, if not the prime reason. So it’s really important to know about common mistakes you may be making that are wasting energy, thus money. 

Wasting energy in your Lake County, IN business means throwing money out the window. Sometimes wasting electric energy isn’t obvious, but it exists and sure adds up. By simply addressing these mistakes your business might be making, you could save a lot of money annually. Remember, it all adds up.

7 Common Errors Causing You to Waste Electric Energy

Our Amber Mechanical electricians frequently observe Indiana businesses making these common mistakes. Sometimes businesses aren’t aware they’re even making them. Other times they are, but the businesses don’t think the mistakes are enough of an issue to be significant. 

Over the course of a year though, the cost of the unnecessary energy consumption really compounds and increases your electric bill. It comes down to the bottom line, so whether you’re a small business or a tycoon, take the time to address these mistakes if you see them. You’ll notice quite a difference in the long term.

Common mistakes to avoid:

1. Running your air conditioning too high. 

Employees might use space heaters under their desks to keep warm when the air conditioning is up too high. Or sometimes they’ll simply open doors or windows to compensate. In this situation, you get hit two ways––wasting electricity running your air too high (which will continue to run since the windows are now open, creating a vicious cycle) and spending money on running the space heaters.

2. Leaving lights on in areas or rooms where no one is. 

This is the same waste of electricity as leaving the lights on at night when no one is there. A smart and relatively inexpensive solution is to install motion detectors that control the lights.

3. Failing to use power strips throughout your Lake County, IN office or building. 

Equipment uses energy even when it’s turned off. Power strips help to combat this energy vampiring, as it’s commonly called.

4. Keeping equipment, such as computers and copiers, on during nights and weekends when no employees are there. 

Turning the equipment off when not in use and then back on when needed saves quite a bit of electricity.

5. Declining to install and utilize programmable or Wi-Fi thermostats. 

By programming your actual heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) needs, instead of leaving one temperature on the thermostat 24/7, you can turn your cooling down when employees leave for the night and the weekend. This saves both electric energy and costs.

6. Refusing to utilize bulbs with light-emitting diode (LED) technology.

Not only do LED bulbs utilize a lot less electricity than incandescent bulbs––without the hassle of frequent replacement––according to the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) they emit hardly any heat. Incandescent bulbs actually let off 90 percent of energy as heat. If you have already gone LED, be sure not to overlook the emergency lights and, more especially, the constant-on EXIT signage.

7. Keeping doors open and letting cooled air out. 

If your business utilizes bay doors or dock/warehouse strip-curtain doors, and your employees aren’t vigilant because it’s inconvenient or they say it’s a waste of time, you’re losing cooling. These open doors draw the cooled air from other areas in your building just to push it outdoors. Regardless of popular opinion at your Indiana business, you are wasting energy and money.

Trust Our Commercial Electricians With Your Lake County, IN Business

Call one of our certified Amber Mechanical electricians at 1-800-59-AMBER or request service online to come out to your Lake County, IN, area business for a detailed assessment. Though it may not seem as obvious as purchasing too much equipment and supplies that just sit there and aren’t used, energy inefficiency eats away at your profits. Paying attention to wasted electricity isn’t only being a good steward of the world’s resources. It’s paying attention to your bottom line.