Working from home can be rewarding, and without the daily commute, you can save money on transport. However, to get the most out of your home office, you will need to consider energy saving technology.
If you are running a business from home, you need to keep an eye on your costs and your profit margins. Energy saving technology can be a good way of keeping your costs down. You may not be able to take advantage of all the energy saving gadgets that are on the market, but if you can incorporate some of them into your home office, you will still bring your costs down.
Solar power is an obvious choice for a home office. Generating electricity for free is something that most people would want to do. If you have the money, you might consider installing solar panels on the roof. However, if your budget is smaller, then you might consider devices that run off solar power such as solar-powered keyboards. Power management software can reduce the amount of power your computer uses when you are not using it. For instance, the software can learn when you go to lunch and reduce power to the computer accordingly.
A simple thing that you might not have considered is Adblock. Smartphones are particularly liable to running out of power, and ads take up to 65 percent of an app’s communication energy and roughly 23 percent of its total energy demands. Blocking ads can therefore mean that you have to charge your mobile devices less often. You might also consider whether you need your own computer or not. Logging on to a computer in a data center on which you run your software may be more efficient than purchasing and using your own servers. Small companies can often share a large server in a data center, thereby reducing their energy consumption.
Simple things can often make a big difference. For example, a light switch timer that switches off lights when they are not required can save a lot of money. This is useful for small businesses and very handy if you have contractors or employees who do not remember to switch off the lights before going home.
Heating can be another major cost, so improving your heating system can be a good way of saving energy. A radiator booster such as a small fan can improve the dissipation of heat from the radiator around the room. Affordable luxury shutters can also be a good way of saving energy. A lot of heat can be lost through windows, so choosing the right sort of window dressing can help with energy bills. You might think that shutters are an old technology that has no place in a modern office, but shutters are actually one of the best options and simplest solutions for preventing heat loss through windows.
Installing a smart meter or using an energy monitor is a good way of keeping track of how much energy you are using and when. You cannot start to reduce costs until you are aware of just how much energy you are using and which devices are eating up your energy. By keeping in mind some of these simple steps, you can begin reducing your monthly energy bills, and these savings can really add up in the long run.