Retail Energy

Save energy and stay one step ahead of the competition. 

To stay ahead of the competition, you need to keep a close eye on your margins. But have you overlooked energy consumption? This practical fact sheet will help you save energy in every area. The results? You could cut energy costs by up to 20 per cent.

Energy wasting hot spots

Want to know where you can start saving energy? This useful chart gives you a good idea of areas to watch out for. This factsheet offers some top tips on how to minimise energy use and costs. The main areas you should look at are: Heating, Lighting and Refrigeration. 

Heating and cooling: 45 per cent
Lighting: 35 per cent
Refrigeration and catering: 12 per cent
Hot water: 3 per cent
Other electricals: 5 per cent

Heating

Did you know that heating and cooling can account for up to 45 per cent of energy use in a typical retail environment? So there’s a big opportunity to save. Here are some points to consider:

• Stop heat escaping - check that your roof is well insulated and that there are no draughts around windows and doors, to reduce the amount of heat loss from the building.
• Switch it off - in summer you may not need all your boilers on. If you have several boilers, it’s likely there’s a smaller one designed to supply your hot water only, so the others can be turned off.
• Install controls - heating your shop when it is empty wears out your boiler and increases energy costs. Use time and temperature controls to ensure your building is not heated when unoccupied. Your building is likely to hold on to heat for around one hour after the heating is turned off, so set your controls to switch off the heating before the end of the day.
• Turn it down - in colder months your customers will feel uncomfortable if your store’s overheated. Providing warmer staff uniforms means you can reduce temperatures and encourage customers to spend more time shopping. Best of all, reducing temperatures by just 1°C can cut fuel consumption by 8 per cent.

For more detailed information on heating, see the Heating Guide. 

Lighting

Although lighting is vital in a retail environment, it account can account for between 20 per cent and 60 per cent of total energy costs. These are some key areas worth considering:

• Make good use of natural daylight - this costs nothing and can reduce your lighting costs by 15 per cent. Where daylight is not sufficient for display purposes, switch lights on only at the start of trading hours.
• Switch to LED - the best lights on the market are now LEDs with a brighter output, better colour range and longer life. By replacing incandescent, halogen and fluorescent lighting with LED, energy savings can be achieved. It is commonplace to reduce lighting energy consumption by more than 50 per cent when moving from traditional light sources to LEDs.
• Install controls - a store where cleaning or security staff work late would benefit from occupancy sensors. These automatically turn lights on when the space is occupied and turn off after a period of vacancy. Sensors can achieve savings of up to 50 per cent on lighting costs and are especially useful in:
  • stockrooms and storerooms
  • toilets
  • meeting rooms
  • areas where lighting is zoned

For more detailed information on lighting, see the Lighting Guide. 

Refrigeration Equipment

Refrigeration can account for up to 50 per cent of a food store’s energy costs. Here are some useful tips on cutting costs:

• Don't over fill - too many products on cabinet shelves require more energy to chill.
• Cold air sinks - cold air from open-fronted refrigerators sinks to the floor and into your store. This increases the time machines are chilling. Fitting blinds or covers at night can save you up to 30 per cent on running costs. Consider using cabinets with doors where possible.
• Switch off - if you’re storing non-perishable goods, like carbonated drinks, in refrigerated cabinets, turn them off after hours. Display cabinet lights should also be turned off.

Cooling & Ventilation

Air conditioning can be very expensive, so it makes sense to keep it under control for significant savings:

• Set temperature correctly - lower settings require more cooling energy. Set your temperature for air conditioning to 24°C or higher. This means it won’t operate at the same time as the heating, so you won’t be paying double.
• Turn it off - ensure fans and pumps are switched off when not in use, as these consume the majority of energy in air conditioning systems. Costs can be drastically reduced by ensuring they’re not in operation outside opening hours. Fitting simple timers can help.

Take action!

Start saving energy today.

Allocate responsibility to a member of staff or small team who can drive forward energy saving measures, like these:

1. Find out how much you are spending on energy. This will give you a base figure to monitor the success of any energy saving measure.
2. Check heating and cooling controls to ensure they follow the same pattern as your opening hours.
3. Prepare a list of good housekeeping measures, including simple actions like turning off lights in staff areas.
4. Compile an energy checklist. Walk round your building and complete a checklist at different times of day (including after hours) to identify where energy savings can be made.
5. Start raising awareness today. The Energy Saving Trust has plenty of posters and stickers that will motivate your staff to take simple energy saving measures. 

For more detailed information see the Energy Management Guide.