Are you racking up half your business electricity bill after hours?

According to a new report by British Gas Business, the average business spends as much as £1 in every £2 of their electricity bill after office hours have ended.

Are you guilty of wasting energy after hours? Image by Tomé Jorge via Flickr

British Gas Business looked at data from over 6,000 smart meters and found that 46% of business electricity is used before 8am or after 6pm.

The average business energy bill is around £2300* - so that means that businesses could be wasting in excess of £1000 when there’s no one in the office.

Obviously when the office is shut, you’ll still need to use some energy - for example to keep essential equipment or appliances running -  but there could be plenty of small changes you could make to cut down the wastage. For example, are computers, printers and photcopiers left switched on or on standby? Do you leave vending machines or coffee machines running? Do you light your car park at the weekend? Do you leave display lighting on even when your shop is closed?

This piece of research was released to tie-in with the launch of British Gas Business’s new product: Business Energy Insight.

With Business Energy Insight, you can get a free smart meter and free access to an online dashboard which will give you lots of data about how much electricity you’re using and when you’re using it. This can provide you with lots of information and ideas for ways you can cut your energy usage; for example, if your energy consumption stays high even after the office has shut. I'll paint you a picture: it's 8pm, you're at home, and you log-in to your online dashboard and see that energy consumption at the office is higher than it should be. You probably won't rush down there to find out why, but the next day you can find out what it was, and take action to make sure it doesn't happen again.

Read more about getting Business Energy Insight and a free smart meter from British Gas Business or call our energy advisors on 0800 688 8568 for more information.

*uSwitchforBusiness data