Tips for Businesses

    • Use your thermostat wisely.
      • Save up to 20% by installing a programmable or smart thermostat.
      • Summer:
        • Set your AC at 78° or higher when people are in the building.
        • Set it at 85° at night and on weekends.
        • Each degree below 78° can increase your energy bill by 6-8%.
      • Winter:
        • Set your heat to 68° or lower when people are in the building.
        • Set it to 55-60° at night and on weekends.
      • Consider a locking cover over the thermostat so employees cannot change your settings.
    • Use fans. They can make a room feel 4-6° cooler.
    • Shut out the sun and hot air.
      • Keep exterior and freight doors closed as often as possible.
      • Close blinds or drapes on windows that get direct sunlight.
      • Shade your outside AC units or condensers.
    • Remove under-desk space heaters. They use a lot of power. Instead, adjust your thermostat to be warmer. And explain to employees why space heaters are a problem.
    • Cut lighting use 30-60% with occupancy sensors and controls.
      • These turn lights on only when someone is in the room, reducing unnecessary energy use.
      • Install in offices, restrooms, supply rooms, and any sporadically-used areas.
    • Make sure outdoor lighting is off during the day.
    • Replace incandescent and compact fluorescent light bulbs with ENERGY STAR certified LED lightbulbs.
    • Replace fluorescent tubes or fixtures with LED tubes or new fixtures. 100 to 1000 Watt fixtures replaced by LED fixtures consumes 30% to 80% less energy than T8 fluorescent lighting.
    • Unplug anything that’s not in use and turn off power strips. You’ll save up to 10 watts of energy for every device.
    • Set computers and monitor to sleep when idle for more than a few minutes.
    • Don't use screen savers. They prevent computers and monitors from going into power-saver mode.
    • Make sure equipment is turned off overnight and on weekends.
    • Set the water heater to 120°.
    • Repair leaks on warm-water faucets. These leaks just drain your water heater, which means it has to heat more water. That process costs you more.