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5 Tips For Trimming Energy Costs During The Holidays

During holidays, your appliances may be running full throttle, which means that festive lighting and decorations can increase your company's energy bills. These special occasions should be a relief from the stresses of running a company -- make sure you don't spend them worrying about spending too much. Lowering holiday energy costs requires resourcefulness, but you can save big with these useful tips.

 

Power Down For Those Summer Cookouts

A three-day weekend can be a welcome break for a busy small business, but it can be terrible news for your office's energy costs. Be sure to power down all non-essential office electronics so that you're not running up unnecessary electricity on long weekends like Memorial Day and 4th of July. Shut down major energy hogs like office lights. Don't forget about smaller equipment like computers, scanners, copiers and monitors. You should be grilling hot dogs, not electricity, on those long summer weekends away from the office.

 

Deck The Halls With LEDs

Festive lighting can boost employee morale by brightening up the office and making it a funner and more celebratory place during end-of-the-year holidays. However, you should avoid splurging on energy costs during this already-expensive time of year. Replace conventional lights with energy-efficient LED lights during holidays like Christmas and New Years. Not only do LED lights use less energy than incandescent lights, but they last longer as well, making them a smart long-term investment for years to come.

 

Keep Your Cool After Labor Day

It's important to keep your employees comfortably cool in the office during hot summer months. But be mindful of the thermostat so that you're not spending more on cooling or heating your office than you have to, especially during more moderate times of year. Scale back the thermostat after Labor Day weekend, which is at the end of summer and right around the time the weather really starts to cool down.

 

Find The Right Time To Celebrate

Set timers so that holiday lights are not in use when the office is empty. Schedule decorative lights to turn on at the start of the work day and turn off when the last employee leaves. You can save a ton of money by being mindful of when lights are in use -- especially if no one is around to see them anyway.

 

All That Glitters Is Not Electric

Who says you need electricity to be festive? Get creative during major holidays by brightening the office with non-electronic decorations. Thinking outside the box with untraditional decor will not only save your business money on energy costs, but give you more occasion to celebrate throughout the year. You don't need to restrict yourself to making popcorn strings on Christmas -- bring in little pumpkins around Thanksgiving, green hats around St. Patrick's Day or cobwebs around Halloween. You can seek out unique items on your own, ask your employees' input, or even have holiday decorating parties to invest your team and get them to bond.

 

 

Want to learn more about saving on energy costs for your small business? Contact ComEd at 1(855) 433-2700 or visit ComEd.com/Business.

 

For more tips and inspiration for small business owners,
visit CBS Small Business Pulse Chicago.

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