Stop spending Energy on crap you don't need

Last week I posted a video about the importance of good energy data. In the video I used the example that people who keep track of their financial incoming and outgoings generally manage their money better than those who don’t.

I was making the point that if you can track your energy consumption through having good energy data you are likely to save more energy than you waste. I used the words that you will gain an understanding of the when, where and how you were consuming your energy.

Since posting the video I have been thinking about the many parallels between saving both energy and money. When it comes to saving money, I subscribe to the saying………

“If you want more money, stop buying crap you don’t need”

So how can this expression help us save energy. Can we just rearrange the above words and insert Energy here and there?

“If you want to consume less energy, stop consuming energy on crap you don’t need”

What does the above statement even mean? Well put quite simply we need to determine what energy we need to consume and what we do not. Whilst I will admit this is a bit of a test to my money / energy analogy.

Particularly as what we don’t need whether it be material items or energy consuming activities will always be subjective. Despite this I think the analogy applies and can assist in the reduction of energy consumption.

I grew up in a house where my parents would have an absolute coronary if the lights were left on. In fact, my father would switch off the power when we used to go on holiday.

What an absolute Energy hero my father is, years ahead of his time

Our house had absolutely zero chance of consuming any electric whilst we were caravaning in Cornwall. Any burglar breaking into our home would have been prevented from stealing two things. Firstly, a video player as we were undoubtedly the last family I know to get one!! And, secondly they stood absolutely no chance of stealing our energy!!!!

Get in there Dad!!!!!!!

Thinking about this some years on I realise that my father didn’t want to consume any electric on crap we didn’t need. So how can we identify and determine what is energy consumption we don’t need.

Maybe we need to be a little brutal in our approach to this process. Maybe we need to adopt the weight watchers approach and literally start counting kilo watt hours. I think it really could be that simple.

If your business owner. Do you know what your energy consumption is? Are you employing anyone to look after this for you? What is your night time consumption? What time is your heating coming on? Do you exhaust heat as part of your processes that could be used elsewhere?

These are just some of the questions you need to ask yourself if you are committed to not consuming energy on crap you don’t need. Time for an example…

I once undertook a night visit (at one of my previous jobs) where I was employed on a large scientific research park. The purpose of the night visit (which was undertook on a Friday evening at 8:00pm) was to record the amount of lighting that had been left switched on after everyone had gone home and would most likely be engaged for the entire weekend.

I was disappointed to find a staggering 45kw of lighting left on. To put that in to context that is the equivalent of having 1,000 5ft fluorescent tubes all switched on at the same time. If you laid them all in line they would stretch for a mile.

Can you believe that!!! A mile of fluorescent tubes all switched on and no body's home!!!

Talk about consuming energy on crap you don’t need. So if you want to stop wasting energy on crap you don’t need. I would suggest that returning to your place of work after operating hours is generally a very good place to start. You may well be horrified by what you find.