If there is one piece of good news this year it’s that energy prices are not expected to rise. During August Ofgem, the energy regulator, announced that the fall in wholesale prices means that energy bills for businesses are at their lowest since May 2022. They are still far from cheap however. So here’s one tip to lower your costs this winter.
While energy prices remain high, the UK Government has extended support for businesses to the end of March 2024. That is of course welcome, but businesses will not be protected in the same way as a domestic users. There is no price cap on business energy, so if you use more then you pay for it. And it’s during the winter when retailers spend a lot on electricity to keep their stores lit for their customers. With the lights on longer, the meter keeps on spinning.
As long as the doors are open and the lights are on and inside your stores, so are your external signs. The amount of energy they consume to be seen from a distance can be considerable too. A typical sign can have well over a dozen fluorescent tubes inside. And with them being switched on for longer during winter, your energy costs can rise sharply.
Save money this winter
The easy way to avoid this hike in your costs is to switch to LED lighting. LED technology using a fraction of the amount of energy required by fluorescent tubes to work. It also has a longer lifecycle and is easier to recycle. The investment to upgrade your lighting to LED can be heavily reduced through both Government grants and offset against tax. And even if these are not available to you, when you move to LED lighting the payback can be less than two years.
The immediate benefit though is how your signage will cost you up to 90% less to illuminate. Making a significant reduction in your energy bills this winter – and many more in the years to come.
Cygnia Maintenance are the UK’s largest provider of LED conversions. Every day we are converting the signage on retail and commercial properties from old, inefficient fluorescent tubes in their signage for modern, sustainable LED modules. And you can have us care for them too with the biggest network of signage engineers to inspect, repair and maintain your signage.
