Guest Blog: Your handy shutdown checklist for the festive season

14 December 2017

This blog comes to us from our friends at Resource Efficient Scotland.

If you’re one of the lucky businesses that will be working reduced hours over the holiday period or perhaps even closing your doors for a well-deserved holiday fortnight, this festive shutdown checklist from the team at Resource Efficient Scotland will help you save energy and money while you are away.

Leaving equipment running when it’s not needed wastes energy and money at any time of year. But, during a holiday period, the costs really start to stack up. A typical office-based business with 50 members of staff could waste over £400 by failing to turn off lights, heating and IT equipment over the holidays. Bah humbug to that.

The good news is that, by planning in a little time to do some final checks around your premises before you leave, you can relax in the knowledge that you’re not wasting energy or money, and that you’re doing your bit for the environment. Result – straight onto Santa’s good list.

And it couldn’t be easier to do your final checks, thanks to Resource Efficient Scotland’s free checklist.

The checklist includes reminders for electrical equipment such as computers and monitors. Resource Efficient Scotland’s elves crunched some numbers on this one. They estimate that if 50 members of staff forget to turn off their computers and monitors for the holiday fortnight, then this alone would needlessly add an extra £105 to your electricity bill.

Lighting is covered too. And we are not just talking fairy lights here. We mean those cupboards, storerooms and bathrooms where lights are very often left on when they shouldn’t be. Just 10 58W bulbs left on for the holiday would waste over £20 of electricity.

And don’t forget your heating controls – they’re on Resource Efficient Scotland’s checklist too. Heating controls are frequently overlooked and boilers are left to run as normal even when premises are unoccupied. But for a 1,000-square metre office, with an electric heating system, this would cost north of £400 over the holidays. While a small amount of frost protection is recommended, most of this expense is completely avoidable.

Resource Efficient Scotland’s checklist can be downloaded here. And it’s free. You can think of it as an early Christmas present.


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This story was posted by Resource Efficient Scotland. Creative Carbon Scotland is committed to being a resource for the arts & sustainability community and we invite the community to submit news, blogs and opportunities to the site.

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