When it comes to cutting energy bills and your carbon footprint, looking at your lighting system can be a really bright idea – you may be surprised how much you can save.
Lighting accounts for around a third of the energy used by the average office, so it’s a vital area to look at if you’re looking to make energy savings. Aside from the basics, which include turning the lights off as you leave at the end of the day (or as you leave that meeting room), and ensuring that blinds are opened fully every day to let in natural light, there are further energy-saving measures which can be taken in order to save money and reduce your business’s carbon footprint.
One method is to improve the controls, so that lights are not on when they aren’t actually being used. You could, for example, have motion sensors fitted to lights in areas such as toilets, kitchens or storage cupboards, so that they are only switched on when the room in question is in use. You might also want to consider the way that the lights and their controls are configured – for example, if you have the lights near windows on a separate switch, you could turn them off on bright days, if there is enough natural light.
Another option is to reduce the power requirement by altering the type of bulb used. For example, pure white LED tubes can be used as a direct replacement for standard T8 fluorescent tubes, and will save up to 50% on energy consumption. In addition, they have an operational life of more than 50,000 hours, and unlike the traditional fluorescent tube, will provide 100% of the light output within milliseconds of being switched on. Our clients Elektoled specialise in this type of system – if you want to find out more visit www.elektoled.co.uk, or contact us and we’ll put you in touch.
Finance is available for businesses wishing to make the switch to an energy efficient lighting system, thanks to a link-up between Carbon Trust Implementation Services and Siemens Financial Services – and the repayments are calculated so that they can be offset by the anticipated energy savings, making this a finance option designed to pay for itself. Contact us if you want to find out more.
In addition, if you invest in a new energy efficient lighting system, you might also be able to claim an Enhanced Capital Allowance (ECA), since controls, white LED units, and high efficiency units all qualify for this method of tax reduction. To find out more about ECAs, please contact our tax team.
