BAS Energy

  manage, monitor and save on your business energy bills.  

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3 Common Myths About Being Energy Efficient in an Office

Making a business energy efficient has never been easier. With the different types of tools, technology and energy types, you would think that more companies would be greener in the UK.

However, there are still many businesses across the country who believe the myths about being energy efficient and therefore don’t make any changes to their business to lower their carbon footprint.

We decided to find three of the most common myths about being energy efficient in an office and explain why they are JUST MYTHS.

‘Cables that aren’t in use but are still plugged in and switched on, do not use energy’ –MYTH!

This may be true for SOME cables, but the majority of them whether they be for laptops, phones, TVs, etc, do still use energy whilst being plugged in. This power is known as ‘standby power’ or ‘vampire power’ and is responsible for huge amounts of wasted energy and expensive bills in both homes and businesses!

So whilst you may think that no power is being let out, your ‘not in use’ cables are still, in fact, rinsing unnecessary energy.

We know some objects require a constant connection (router, clocks, alarms) but for any other gadgets, the solution is simple – when a device is not in use, simply turn off the plug, including those phone chargers that are not connected.

‘Keeping the heating on all the time at a low temperature will be cheaper’ – MYTH!

Would you keep an oven on constantly at a low heat even though you aren’t cooking anything? Course not, so why would you keep the heating on in a room that isn’t being used?

There are many people who believe this myth and they are wasting so much energy by doing so!

Your heating should be turned on only as and when required. If you do require a room to be heated up before it is occupied, set a timer for the heating to turn on 15 minutes before people arrive. You can also save energy by turning off the heating half an hour before leaving a building too.

Another way of saving money on heating costs is by using smart appliances in the workplace.

‘Computer screensavers save energy’ – MYTH!

Screensavers do not save energy, they are primarily there for ‘entertainment’ whilst you are not at your screen.

Not only does leaving a computer on waste energy and cost money, but it can also reduce its lifespan.

When a screen isn’t in use, turn off the monitor or shut down the computer completely if it’s not going to be used for a long period of time.

So now that you know these points are in fact myths, why not make some changes to your office and add an energy efficiency plan to see what difference it could make to your energy bills.

If you require help on your business’ carbon responsibility, visit our Carbon management and Energy Audits & Compliance page. Alternatively, you can speak to a member of our team on 0845 1800 700.

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How to Save Energy & Money in Different Business Sectors

Whilst there are ways BAS Energy can help a business to save money, there are also ways in which they can help themselves to be more energy efficient whilst being in the workplace.

Here are four different examples of how some businesses can save money and energy consumption:

Restaurants & Cafes

Businesses in the food and leisure industry can save money on their energy by training their staff on efficiency usage measures and by installing energy efficient boilers and appliances across their kitchens and dining spaces.

They can look at green energy solutions such as biomass boilers which may be able to use waste products from the kitchens for a cyclical recycling approach.

Shops

The retail sector is a tremendously heavy user of energy where physical premises are in play.

Stores have lighting and heating requirements around the clock, so one of the first priority areas is to carry out a tariff review to see if savings can be made. Lightbulbs should also be switched to the most energy-efficient LED models.

If you have chilled units, keep them away from doors and keep them covered with blinds to prevent chilled air from escaping.

Evaporative condenser systems – rather than air-cooled condensers – are also recommended as being more energy efficient.

Offices

Heating and air conditioning is a real energy guzzler, and older systems are particularly inefficient and can also lead to health issues. Consider investing in the newer models and ask a specialist to review your premises with the view of recommending efficient heating and cooling methods.

New smart technologies can adjust the temperature automatically to optimise usage and bills. Similar technologies can be used in bathrooms to minimise water usage, such as smart sensor controls on taps. Intelligent light controls are also a worthwhile investment.

Making sure staff are turning off PC screens and electronic equipment at the end of the day should be a high priority. Action Energy, a government-funded body, estimates that £90m is wasted annually by UK companies that leave computers turned on when not in use. As well as energy and cost savings, there’s the environmental impact too, as reducing this would produce a saving of one tonne of carbon dioxide emissions a year.

Factories

Again, smart sensors can help to ensure that temperatures are optimised correctly in warehousing and production spaces, and staff training can help ensure that teams follow the correct efficiency processes and are motivated to seek out continuous energy improvements.

An energy efficiency consultant can be a valuable service to use in a larger factory as various efficiency savings may be possible, including running lines at certain times of the day, switching tariffs, using standby functions and investments such ascombined heat and power installations, supply voltage optimisation and increased process automation.

Though we may have only looked at four examples here, all types of companies can benefit from making changes in the way they run their company to make savings on business energy. So if you are a small to medium sized business, why not make changes to your energy management plan and see how much you could be saving!  See https://bas-energy.co.uk/save-energy-money-different-business-sectors/ for more

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The Energy Markets Outlook For Spring 2017

As we enter the second quarter of the year, the energy markets are following the expected pattern of falling prices as we leave winter, as the weather warms up and supplies are under less pressure. Oil, being the predominant driver of price, has been weakening to a low of $50 per barrel with world bank predictions of an average throughout 2017 of $55 per barrel. Oil price, as well as regular deliveries of LNG being shipped to the UK of late, has created a bearish market.

As we look further out towards winter 2017 and summer 2018, these price reductions have been absorbed across both the gas and electricity forward wholesale prices with a wholesale reduction of approximately 9% since January.

What to expect over the coming Spring?

In the short term, we will see some further softening of prices, however, there is the risk of a sudden turnaround or at least a stagnation of reductions and although it is difficult to predict accurately we need to be vigilant. The first unknown is the long term market reaction following the triggering of article 50. Some analysts claim that any upside fallout is already priced into the markets and we have already witnessed the markets increasing since Wednesday. The second issue comes from the gas storage facility ‘Rough’ which has been dogged with problems for many months and currently is unable to take any gas storage injections until at least July. If, as we progress through quarter two this date slips, then it is likely that winter 17 prices will rise on the threat of a shortage of summer priced gas being available.

For businesses who have not contracted for the second half of 2017 onwards then it is all about timing to market, yes prices may still for a few weeks soften off a little more but one piece of bad news will certainly turn the tables and suppliers will add significant risk premium to forward prices negating any further downside. Therefore, it is recommended that the low risk option would be to secure your energy sooner rather than later. Contact BAS Energy for help https://bas-energy.co.uk/services/sme/save-gas-electricity/

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The Energy Markets Outlook For Spring 2017

As we enter the second quarter of the year, the energy markets are following the expected pattern of falling prices as we leave winter, as the weather warms up and supplies are under less pressure. Oil, being the predominant driver of price, has been weakening to a low of $50 per barrel with world bank predictions of an average throughout 2017 of $55 per barrel. Oil price, as well as regular deliveries of LNG being shipped to the UK of late, has created a bearish market.

As we look further out towards winter 2017 and summer 2018, these price reductions have been absorbed across both the gas and electricity forward wholesale prices with a wholesale reduction of approximately 9% since January.

What to expect over the coming Spring?

In the short term, we will see some further softening of prices, however, there is the risk of a sudden turnaround or at least a stagnation of reductions and although it is difficult to predict accurately we need to be vigilant. The first unknown is the long term market reaction following the triggering of article 50. Some analysts claim that any upside fallout is already priced into the markets and we have already witnessed the markets increasing since Wednesday. The second issue comes from the gas storage facility ‘Rough’ which has been dogged with problems for many months and currently is unable to take any gas storage injections until at least July. If, as we progress through quarter two this date slips, then it is likely that winter 17 prices will rise on the threat of a shortage of summer priced gas being available.

For businesses who have not contracted for the second half of 2017 onwards then it is all about timing to market, yes prices may still for a few weeks soften off a little more but one piece of bad news will certainly turn the tables and suppliers will add significant risk premium to forward prices negating any further downside. Therefore, it is recommended that the low risk option would be to secure your energy sooner rather than later. Contact BAS Energy for help https://bas-energy.co.uk/services/sme/save-gas-electricity/

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Let BAS Energy Help You To Be Stress Free This April

April is Stress Awareness Month, so we thought it would be the perfect time to let you know how we at BAS Energy, can help you reduce stress about your business energy bills.

We understand how important it is to be stress free in the workplace, especially when dealing with finances. Having a clear and relaxed mind makes it a lot easier to concentrate running a business, so we want to help our customers by taking the stresses of energy bills and queries over usage away, leaving them feeling relieved, and focused on other aspects of the job.

Let BAS Energy Help You

At BAS Energy, we can take the pressure off and help your business by searching the wholesale market to find the best business energy prices tailored to your company needs and budgets.

We have the latest leading technology that can help us to track your utilities even on multiple sites which will then be gathered into one set of online reports. We can then get a clear understanding of what your business is using and be able to recommend an energy contract that’s suitable to you.

Our Openview platform enables you to see a breakdown of all commercial energy costs for current and future contracts, on a daily basis. This allows a business to compare gas and electricity prices and find out what changes there may be in the future. This is a great way to take advantage of favourable cost conditions in the wholesale energy markets and save money on energy procurement.

We also have our online energy usage management platform - Dataview, a place where all a business' energy assets can be shown online including location, map, meter ID and type. In-line with using smart meters, corporate and medium companies can benefit from Dataview, as it simplifies the data collected, making energy consumption and cost measurements a lot easier to read and compare with.

Not only can we save on your business energy costs by searching the market for cheaper rates, we also offer invoice validation and bill audit services, which ensures your current energy providers are charging accurate prices for your usage.

So whether you're a small to medium sized business who is in need of help with saving money on your gas and electricity or saving on water, or a large corporate needing help to optimise your energy portfolio or check the accuracy of your supplier’s billing, the BAS Energy team is here to help and keep you stress free!

With over 180 expert Account Managers and well established energy supplier relationships, we are constantly scanning the markets for cheaper business gas and electricity rates for our customers and your business can benefit too! If you would like more information, please contact us. 

https://bas-energy.co.uk/contact/

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P272 – Businesses to be Aware of the Changes Ahead

As most businesses now know, as of April 2017, those companies that have had historically an 05-08 meter now become a Half-hourly settled meter and therefore now attract metering and data collection costs.

However, the costs may not stop there as all the new meters, reportedly over 160,000, now become part of the capacity for the DNO (Distribution Network Operators) and the allotted capacity allowance for each meter is charged accordingly.

BUT, there are changes ahead that all HH metered businesses need to be aware of:

Under DCP228, Ofgem announced a change to the charging structure for DUoS (Distribution Use of System) which amends the peak period (4pm – 7pm Monday to Friday) costs by blending out the costs across the whole period instead of heavily weighting it to the RED period. This will take place as of April 2018.

YET More change, under DCP161, OFGEM are to introduce from April 2018 a penalty for those businesses that exceed their allocated capacity allowance (KVa) and this is likely to be significant.

So, those businesses that are new to the HH metered market need to be aware of their current available capacity allowance and monitor it to ensure that they do not exceed their KVa and if they are likely to, then apply to have this allowance increased. Obviously the larger your KVa, the more you are charged by the network but this is going to be considerably less than any penalty imposed.

How can BAS Energy help?

Our Dataveiw technology allows businesses to track and view their energy consumptions online.  Over time, BAS Energy can then help companies to evaluate their peak usage and advise on KVa’s and whether or not the business should increase their capacity allowance for the new peak period.

Find out more about our Dataview technology and P272.