Opus Energy
Energy Efficiency Advice for Schools and Colleges
Email us to receive your free hospitality ‘good practice’ guide for saving energy and reducing costs. The guide contains practical advice on ways to assess your work place and change working practices - start making savings today!
Heating accounts for at least half of a school’s annual energy consumption so making savings in this area is vital to reduce costs, combined with inexpensive simple steps 20% saving overall could be achieved, for example:
Heating
- Keep windows and doors closed. If it gets too hot, adjust the thermostat or individual controls rather than opening windows and losing heat
- Install seven-day time controls and set them to reflect school opening hours – this way you won’t be wasting electricity. Also investigate how long it takes to heat up and cool in the evening to optimise the heating process
- The DfES recommends classrooms are heated to 18 ºC. Reducing temperature by 1 ºC can save 8% on heating costs, so by adhering to these guidelines you will probably be saving money
Lighting
- Use natural daylight – it’s free! If daylight is sufficient don’t turn on lights
- Label light switches to avoid lighting areas that aren’t in use. This could reduce lighting costs by around 15%
- Get pupil’s onboard – appoint an energy monitor to switch of lights at the end of lessons and breaks
Electrical equipment
- Switch off PC screens when not in use, screens do not use less energy when in ‘screen-saver’ mode. PC screen consumption can often represent almost two thirds of a computer’s energy consumption. If left on 24 hours a day, an individual computer will cost £25 a year to run
- Turn off vending machines when not in use. By leaving them on 24 hours a day could cost around £120 a year!
Swimming pools
- Control costs – by keeping a pool temperature at around 29 ºC, coupled with air temperature at around +1 ºC of pool temperature. This reduces evaporation and the need for ventilation
- Cover the pool when not in use which will substantially reduce evaporation and the need for ventilation.
Opus Energy is offering information for getting started and other free market specific 'good practice' guides which detail practical advice for saving energy: