Photo by Daniel Thomas on Unsplash

Many of us spend more than half of our waking hours on the job. When working from home, this means an additional amount of energy consumption for your home energy bill.

If you want to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions and save money, we recommend trying to conserve energy when and where you can.

You Can Save Energy in Ways Big and Small

Here are some quick energy-saving tips to help you get started:

• Turn off the lights when you leave a room for any length of time, even if it's just for a few minutes.

• Unplug appliances, including cell phones and laptops, when they're not being used.

• Shut down computers at night.

• Open the blinds and use natural light

• Use a small fan instead of an air conditioner.
  

• Use power strips to turn off multiple devices at once.

• Consider solar panels.

Unplug appliances that are not in use

This tip is also good for your pocketbook, as it can save you from having to buy new batteries or rechargeables every month or two (and then again and again). It can also help to prevent damage to the internal components of your devices, as heat buildup is one of the main causes of failure for laptops, smartphones and other small electronics that run on lithium-ion batteries.

Program thermostats to be lower in winter and higher in summer

The temperature of your home office is one of the biggest ways you make a huge difference when it comes to energy consumption. You want it to be comfortable, but you don’t want to waste money on heating or cooling.

One way to do this is by programming the thermostat so that it's set differently depending on the time of day and season: lower during the cooler months, higher during warmer ones. Always blasting the heat or AC can get pretty expensive, so keep an eye on it.

Use natural light as much as possible

In the winter, when the days are shorter and colder, open up those shades and let in as much sunlight as possible. Not only will this let in more natural light (and therefore help reduce your bill for artificial lighting), but it'll also heat up the room naturally.

Studies show that using natural light can reduce energy consumption by up to 25 percent in commercial buildings, and the same can be true for your home office. This logic also applies during summer months: minimize the amount of time when windows are opened so that hot air doesn't escape into an already-hot building. In addition to saving money on cooling costs, this practice helps keep you comfortable while they're working hard all day long!

Solar Panels

You can also consider installing solar panels at your home. If this is your office where you spend most of your day, you should get serious about saving energy. Solar panels may be an upfront investment, but they can save you massive energy costs once the power of the Sun begins to power your entire home.

Final Thoughts

There are many ways to conserve energy while working from home, and we hope this list has inspired you to start making small changes today. We know that changing habits can be hard, but it’s worth it in the long run. Take the first step today and save energy with Utility Bidder!