Working from home has obvious benefits. But it can also increase your home’s energy costs. Beyond adjusting your heating and cooling throughout the day, you probably have computers, monitors, printers, additional lighting and more.
The cost of using all that office equipment can add up. To help, our energy experts compiled a list of money-saving tips:
- LED Task Lighting: A desk lamp with LED bulbs uses less energy than whole-room lighting. LEDs use anywhere from 25% to 80% percent less energy and last three to 25 times longer than traditional bulbs. LEDs also produce less heat.
- Power Mode: Set office equipment, such as printers and scanners, to automatically switch to standby or sleep mode when not in use. In addition to saving energy, the equipment will stay cooler, which will help to extend its useful life.
- Laptop vs Desktop: Laptops use up to 80 percent less energy than desktop computers.
- Ceiling Fan: Use a ceiling fan to maintain comfort and be sure to turn it off when you leave the room. Set it to rotate clockwise in winter and counterclockwise in summer.
- Space Heater: If you’re the only one home during the day, there’s no need to heat the entire house. Instead, use a small space heater to stay comfortable inside your office.
- Window Film: Installing heat-reflecting window film on east or west windows with sun exposure can help keep your office from getting too warm during the summer months. Blinds and drapes can help but still allow heat to enter through the window.
- Air Vents: Feeling too warm or too cold? Adjust your room’s air vent to direct air closer to you. If you sit underneath the air vent you may need to adjust the vent down toward you. If you sit on the other side of the room adjust the vent upward so the air will travel across the ceiling and fall toward you.
- Energy Star: The next time you need a new computer, copier, fax machine, printer, or scanner for your home office, choose an Energy Star product. These products use less energy than standard models and thus improve the overall efficiency of your home office.
To maximize your savings, complete our free online energy audit to set up helpful alerts, monitor usage, tap into informative videos and more. As a leader in energy efficiency, we offer more energy-saving programs than any other utility in the state. Visit tampaelectric.com/save to check them out.
