Businesses need to look at how they can control energy use, and can do so by taking simple measures
 

• Turn down your heating at the thermostat. Costs increase by around 8% for every 1°C increase. The longer your heating is on and the higher the thermostat is set, the higher your bills will be.
• Turning down your boiler output temperature will also support it to run at a higher efficiency and use less fuel (often boilers will have an “eco” mode).

• Turn off lights not in use. Meeting rooms, storage areas and corridors, in particular, are often lit unnecessarily. Don’t forget external lights which can be very expensive to run and may not be required later in the evening.
• You could make more than 50% energy savings by switching from old inefficient lighting to LED bulbs.
• Installing timers and sensors are an excellent low-cost solution – occupancy sensors alone could cut energy use from lighting by 30%. 

• Electrical equipment can be expensive to run and can be wasteful even on standby. Switch off equipment when not in use.
• Make sure you’re using your electrical products effectively. If a piece of office equipment isn’t being used, switch it off. Even leaving equipment on standby can be wasteful. 

• Check your refrigeration thermostat – increase the temperature if possible
• Take a look at the regular maintenance and management of cooled spaces. Poor maintenance can increase energy use from refrigeration by up to 10%.

• Investigate common energy saving opportunities using SEAI Energy Academy resources of SEAI guides
• Free energy audits are available from the SEAI Audit Voucher,  Green For Business and GreenStart and can help you pinpoint where to save. For most businesses, the voucher towards an energy audit will cover its full cost.
• Invest in energy efficiency and renewable energy where possible, to reduce demand and replace fossil fuel demand with renewable energy alternatives. SEAI Grants and Local Enterprise Office Grants are available to support these investments.

Please see below links for more information:

SEAI Energy Academy | SEAI

Energy Audits for SMEs | Business | SEAI

Energy Audits for SMEs | Business | SEAI

Green For Business Sustainability Grant | National Enterprise Hub

GreenStart Business Sustainability Grant | National Enterprise Hub

Business Grants & Supports | Business & Public Sector | SEAI

What is the Energy Efficiency Grant? - Local Enterprise Office - Portal