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Why every business should manage their energy bills online: 5 benefits

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Since the outbreak of coronavirus businesses the world over have been forced to adapt and survive – this has meant different things for different companies but one change that has been universal for most businesses, is managing your business energy online. It’s an obvious way to streamline procedures in a time when a quick chat over the desk to sort out a glitch or clarify an issue (right at the minute) is no possible.

Have a look at these five benefits of managing your business energy online:

1. You will have Global Access to your bills – whether you’ve vacated the city for time in the countryside or you’re on a business trip (or perhaps even on holiday), with internet access and a device, you’ll be able to keep tabs on your account and make payments if necessary.

2. With an online account there will no longer be a need for paper bills, which eliminates paper waste and is a great way for your company to Go Green without much effort. All the information you will need to run your account – see your bills, make payments, make changes – will be available online.

3. With many businesses running at reduced capacity, there is far less time to deal with endless call-waiting if you need information about your energy account – online chats might be a quicker option and you should be able to find a lot of the information you may need by accessing your account online. This is a massive Time Saving for you as a business owner or manager.

4. Submitting metre readings online could be the best way to Avoid Overpaying while your business premises are empty – this is very easy to do online, and especially useful when energy providers have stopped sending someone to read your metre as a result of lockdown restrictions and personnel shortages.

5. Managing your energy online gives you the option to check your balance at any time so there are no surprises, which helps you Stay In Control of your finances. You will be able to search specific payments, view consumption amounts, check balances, access payment history and oversee any irregular charges.

For more benefits, check out Britishgas.co.uk.

For all your energy related questions, feel free to contact the CH Systems team on 0208 302
8149 or info@chsystems.cc.

How does your business consume and spend money on energy?

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Do you feel like you’re overspending on energy? Check out the latest stats to see where your company sits in comparison to the average:

The cost of running your office is dependent on many factors but what is the average cost for a micro, small and medium office? Check out the following stats:

Business size:

Micro 5,000-15,000 kWh
Small 15,000-30,000 kWh
Medium 30,000-50,000 kWh

** A kilowatt-hour (or kWh) is the unit of energy utility companies use to measure how much gas and electricity you’re using.

The factors (mentioned above) that contribute to how much energy your company uses…here’s a breakdown of appliance usage based on a standard variable business tariff (c. 18p pkWH):

Air con 29.15%
Light fittings 26.12%
Computers 10.91%
Vending Machine 6.05%
Water Cooler 6.05%
Kettles 4.66%
Fridge 3.33%
Printers 3.02%
Hand dryers 2.59%
Microwaves 1.73%
TV screens 1.71%
Laptops 1.27%
Dishwasher 1.04%
Toasters 1.04%
Coffee machine 0.86%
Desk fans 0.48%

Electricity is a necessity for running an office, but what might surprise you is which appliances are costing you the most. The total cost of running this model office was £10,423 in energy bills alone.

Your business might be a lot smaller but the above model provides an idea of what appliances are costing you the most – and where you might be able to cut down on use.

Another really interesting statistic is that 46 per cent of business energy is consumed outside of 8am-6pm – as found by British Gas. This highlights a need for improved energy efficiency such as ensuring computers, lights, kitchen appliances are turned off. And to ensure that you are getting the best deal possible, compare energy providers regularly to see how much money you could save!

For all your energy related questions, feel free to contact the CH Systems team on 0208 302 8149 or info@chsystems.cc.

Source: Finder

Top business energy users in the UK

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The more people there are, the greater demand there is…on everything; goods, services and, yes, energy. Businesses have to keep up and in 2017/18 the amount of energy used in the UK grew by 1.1 per cent; the highest amount of energy since 2013. The Government stats are in and the UK’s top 10 biggest business energy consumers are:

  1. Commercial and miscellaneous services – 14,575 ktoe
  2. Public administration – 5,647 ktoe
  3. Manufacturing and industrial services – 3,774 ktoe
  4. Chemical manufacturing – 3,668 ktoe
  5. Food, drink and tobacco manufacturing – 3,110 ktoe
  6. Mineral products manufacturing – 2,689 ktoe
  7. Printing and publishing – 1,890 ktoe
  8. Agriculture – 1,584 ktoe
  9. Mechanical engineering – 1,567 ktoe
  10. Iron, steel and metal manufacturing – 1,507 ktoe

And here’s where it was used:

  • Transport – 40 per cent
  • Domestic – 29 per cent
  • Industry – 16 per cent
  • Services – 15 per cent

Where does your business sit in the stats? And are you using more energy to meet service/industry demand?

The good news is that although energy consumption is on the rise (due to an increase in population), consumption of natural gas grew by 1.6 mtoe (million tonnes of oil equivalent) and the consumption of bioenergy continues to increase. The consumption of natural gas has also increased more than tenfold from 3,662 ktoe in 1970 to 43,787 ktoe in 2018.

As business owners it’s important o do what we can to mitigate our impact on the environment. For all your energy related questions, feel free to contact the CH Systems team on 0208 302 8149 or info@chsystems.cc.

Source: Gazprom-energy.co.uk

Apple energy goes 100% green

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Apple has just announced that in a concerted effort to combat climate change, all of its retail stores, data centres and corporate offices in 43 countries (including the US, the UK, China and India) now run on 100 per cent clean energy. Apple uses a variety of clean energy sources, such as solar technology, wind farms and new concepts like biogas fuel cells and micro-hydro generation systems for generating electricity.

This is huge inspiration for Apple supporters, particularly businesses that use Apple products as well as those that supply Apple. In fact, to date there are 23 Apple suppliers that have pledged to power their Apple production with 100 per cent clean energy.

Thus far, clean energy from supplier projects helped avoid over 1.5 million metric tons of greenhouse gases from being emitted in 2017, the equivalent of taking more than 300,000 cars off the road. In addition, over 85 suppliers have registered for Apple’s Clean Energy Portal, an online platform that Apple developed to help suppliers identify commercially viable renewable energy solutions in regions around the world.

In a statement about the energy milestone, Apple CEO Tim Cook said: “We’re going to keep pushing the boundaries of what is possible with the materials in our products, the way we recycle them, our facilities and our work with suppliers to establish new creative and forward-looking sources of renewable energy because we know the future depends on it.”

Whilst sustainability is said to be a priority for many companies, as the saying goes: actions speak louder than words. Well done Apple!

For all your energy related questions, feel free to contact the CH Systems team on 0208 302 8149 or info@chsystems.cc.

Source: Apple.com – “Apple now powered by 100 percent renewable energy”

Why UK businesses are switching supplier

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The latest news from <a href=”http://www.energy-uk.org.uk/” rel=”noopener” target=”_blank”>Energy UK</a> is that more than 660,000 customers switched their electricity supplier in February 2018; a 60 per cent rise on February 2017. This is the highest number yet, according to industry figures, which reference both home owners and business customers. The trade association also said that the figure continues to rise, as over a million customers have switched so far (12 March) this year.

Energy UK cited one reason as the cold weather during the month, and another reason for the record number of switchers as the publicity campaigns by suppliers and switching websites. <em>Read between the lines:</em> businesses want to save money!

Interestingly, a fifth of the switches in February were away from the so-called Big Six energy firms to smaller or mid-sized suppliers, and according to Ofgem; the biggest savings are achieved by moving from the expensive standard variable tariffs to cheaper fixed-term deals.

Like so many other businesses, are you thinking about switching energy supplier in order to save money? Fortunately, recent changes to legislation mean that this switching window (and the rules surrounding it) has been altered, giving businesses more leeway.

The new rules mean switching windows have effectively been abolished. As such, businesses are free to inform their current supplier that they’d like to switch – and free to arrange that switch – at any point from the beginning of a contract up to 30 days before it expired (the notice period, mentioned above).

What’s more, the process of rolling businesses onto more expensive contracts – and tying them into these contracts if they hadn’t arranged a switch or renewal – has been stopped.

To take full advantage of these freedoms, read “<a href=”http://www.moneysupermarket.com/gas-and-electricity/business-energy/switching-supplier/” rel=”noopener” target=”_blank”>Switching your business energy supplier</a>” and contact the CH Systems team on 0208 302 8149 or <a href=’ma&#105;lt&#111;&#58;&#37;69&#37;6&#69;fo&#64;&#99;&#104;sys&#116;%65m&#115;&#46;c&#99;’>&#105;nfo&#64;ch&#115;ystems&#46;cc</a> if you have any practical energy queries relating to your home or business.

<em><strong>Source:</strong> bbc.co.uk – “<a href=”http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-43349644″ rel=”noopener” target=”_blank”>Record numbers switching electricity supplier</a>”</em>