Smart Meters for Businesses

A Great Way To Manage Your Business Energy Usage

Businesses are under increasing pressure these days to improve the way they manage their energy usage. This is because of rising energy prices, and initiatives set by the government to increase their energy efficiency.

Part of the Building Regulations Act encourages businesses to accurately measure the amount of energy they use. So unless you already know what yours is, you are likely to find it difficult to get a true picture. So what can help?

Research has shown that Smart Meters are increasingly providing businesses with the answer*. This is because they give an accurate and up to date energy reading, which can be used to help control and drive the right energy efficiency behavior.

A Smart Meter will help a business to become more proactive when it comes to managing their energy usage. This is because once they know the amount they are using and how much it is costing them, they can start taking steps to reduce it and their impact on the environment.

Recent figures released by the Carbon Trust indicate that small UK businesses could save a staggering £300 million each year on their energy bills**, and reduce their carbon emissions by a possible 5.1 million tonnes.

So let’s consider the main ways a Smart Meter can improve the energy efficiency of your business.

• Helps You Control Your Spend A Smart Meter makes it easy to keep a close eye on your business energy bill; helping you to make an informed decision about who you are buying your energy from. It will provide you with detailed data, so you can monitor the amount you use. You can also determine where energy is being wasted, and plan and allocate your energy costs more accurately.
• Improves Your Impact On The Environment By monitoring the amount of energy your business is using, you can reduce the amount you are wasting which improves your carbon footprint.
• Easy To Use All Smart Meters are easy to use. The latest models are compact, wireless, and can be connected to the internet. They use Bluetooth (a similar technology to a mobile phone), to send daily or monthly readings remotely to you online. Older models enable you to view your reading on an LCD screen. This means that you can easily check your usage, track patterns and generally manage your energy levels with ease.
• Advanced Features That Save You Money More innovative Smart Meters come with advanced features which help you save more money, like an energy tariff control feature. This allows businesses to switch between suppliers and tariffs depending on normal or peak periods. The potential savings therefore are considerable.
• You Don’t Need To Submit A Meter Reading You will not need to submit your meter reading with a Smart Meter, or have someone visit to take a reading. This is because all the data is collected remotely via Bluetooth.
• Accurate Billing You always know what to expect from your electricity bill with a Smart Meter, and it ensures that you are only billed for what you use.

Smart Meters are indeed a great way of managing the amount of energy your business uses, and as this article has highlighted, the benefits of getting one certainly out weigh the costs.

For further information about these and other ways a Smart Meter can benefit your business and how you can go about getting one, visit business energy websites like energy360.co.uk.

Sources:

http://www.microsoft.com/uk/smallbusiness/sbnews/small-business-finance/Smart-meters-can-help-small-firms-reduce-energy-bills-19435106.mspx
4ecotips.com
energy-retail.org.uk, ecoswitch.com, carbontrust.co.uk