Most modern workplaces have air conditioning these days.

It allows businesses to regulate the temperature for employees, ensuring health and safety standards are met. It also allows office equipment to be cooled when necessary and provides a welcoming atmosphere for visiting customers.

Running air conditioning can cost businesses hundreds of pounds a year, though.

On an average electricity tariff of 15.41p per unit, the cost of running an air conditioning unit for eight hours a day for 90 days per year can vary from £75 to £326, depending on the size and power you need.

In an office, you may want to run your air conditioning for more than 200 days a year, which would more than double that cost.

As the warm weather of summer beckons, here are a few basic things you could be doing to help reduce that bill:

• Keep your office windows and doors closed – it costs more to run a unit and it is less effective if windows are opened, for example.
• Set your air conditioning to as high as is comfortable then use a programmable thermostat to increase temperature when no one is in the office. That could save you up to 10% on your bills.
• Try to maintain a consistent temperature. Don’t be tempted to turn the temperature right down when you walk into a room – you may well forget about it and spend more than you need. It also isn’t as effective as maintaining a constant temperature when people are in the office.
• Maintain your systems. Ensure filters aren’t blocked – cleaning them once a month could reduce energy consumption by between 5% and 15%. Make sure the evaporator and condenser coils are also clean. Keep trees and shrubs away from outside units.
• Turn computers off at night. If your office has large numbers of them, that could be adding to the heat in your workplace.
• Close blinds and shades to prevent heat building up from sunlight. This also protects workers using computer screens from glare.

Do you need advice on electrical installations, maintenance, or repairs in your office?Call our experts on 0845 003 6856. Find out more about our commercial services here: /commercial-services/.

Would your business survive a fire at your office?

For most owners, a fire would be a costly setback which their businesses could ill afford.

You can reduce the risk of a fire at your premises by avoiding seven key problems:

1.  Overloaded plugs – this can cause plug sockets to burn out and spark, and that can ignite plasterboard walls or material around it. Check the amp rating of the items you’re plugging into one socket to ensure it doesn’t exceed the safe level. Some items will need a socket to themselves.

2.   Damaged wiring -  regular inspections will ensure your electrical wiring isn’t damaged by wear and tear or rodents. Damaged wiring can cause a short, and sparking can ignite material around it. Check for hot plugs or sockets, fuses being blown regularly, or tripping circuit breakers.

3.   People bringing in non-PAT tested appliances – without PAT testing, how can you know if a device someone has brought in is safe to use? Kettles, microwaves, lamps, fans, and laptops all need to be tested to ensure they don’t pose a fire risk.

4.   Computers left on all night – leaving computers running all night does increase the chances of an electrical fire, particularly if the computers are older. It also hikes your electricity bill!

5.   Chargers for laptops and mobile phones left plugged in for long periods – this can increase the risk of fire, especially if the chargers being used are cheap replacements. There have been instances of such chargers causing fires.

6.   Overloaded extension cords and plug adaptors – these have a limit to the number of amps they can take, so check the rating. Generally, they are 13A or 10A. Don’t exceed that maximum rating.

7.   Incorrectly-fitted lighting or wiring – this can cause serious problems, from increasing the risk of fires to risking your staff getting shocks or burns. Anyone who carries out electrical work at your premises should be a registered electrician who has the knowledge to ensure the work is safe and carried out to a good standard.

Need help with inspections, installations, repairs, or maintenance work at your office? Call our experts on 0845 003 6856. Find out more about our commercial services here: /commercial-services/.

Setting up a new business from your home is an exciting time.

There’s so much to think about. You need to decide if you’ll be self-employed, in a partnership, or registering a limited company.

You need to get your business plan in order, sort out finance, and decide how you will reach your customers.

You’ll also need to decide where you’ll be carrying out your work.

For most home-based businesses, a home office is the way forward.

You need somewhere dedicated to work, somewhere on which you can close the door at the end of the day.

You don’t want your new business to overwhelm your home!

Your new office may be a spare room, study, or a garden room.

One important thing to consider is ensuring you have the right electrics for your new home office.

What do you need to consider?

What equipment will you be using? Most home offices have at least one computer or laptop, a printer, phones, internet connections, and points for phone charging.

Designers and photographers may need light boxes, some businesses may need other equipment such as overhead screens – useful for traders to monitor currency and stocks, for example.

For those starting a craft business, you may need equipment which needs electricity like soldering irons.

What lighting will you need? Alongside overhead lighting, you will probably need a desk lamp. Will you also need spotlighting for crafting or artistic work?

Where will your desk be situated? Look at the layout of the room and the natural lighting and decide where your desk should be. You need to ensure computer screens and other VDUs don’t suffer from glare from windows or overhead lights.

Will you need to move your broadband router? Some houses, especially older ones with thick walls, have Wi-Fi dead spots. Try your laptop out in your new office before you move in to ensure you get a usable signal.

Where will your electrical points and data cabling points need to be placed? Once you have the site of your desk, this should become clearer.

A good electrical engineer will help you design the layout of points to best suit your needs.

If you have a garden office, do you need extra cabling outside? Your garden office may not have any electrics in there at all, or its older electrics may need a total re-wire. Do you also need a fire alarm or security system for it? Get a proper survey to ensure you’ll be safe.

Looking for an engineer to install your home office electrics? Call our expert team on 0845 003 6856/ Find out more about our services here: /.

For every savvy business owner, ensuring costs are as low as possible is one of the best ways to maximise profits.

One of the key areas you could look at is reducing the amount of money you spend on your electricity bill.

Here are three wonderfully simple ways your business could save money:

1.      Switch to LEDs

One of the best ways to get long-term savings is to swap your incandescent lightbulbs for LEDs.

How much you’d save depends on your tariff and how often you use your lighting. But as an example, if you have an office with 25 lightbulbs, on for eight hours a day for five days a week, and you pay 10p per KWH, swapping them for LEDs would save you more than £490 in a year and more than £2,400 over five years.

That’s a substantial saving which factors in the extra cost of buying in LEDs which are more expensive to buy than incandescent bulbs.

Not only would you be saving money, you’d also be reducing your business’ carbon footprint. In this example, you’d reduce your CO2 output by almost 13,400kg over five years.

As they emit little heat, they also help you reduce your air conditioning bills. It’s win-win!

2.      Switch off computers at night

This is great for energy saving and office health and safety.

How much you save depends on how old your computers are. Generally, the older they are the thirstier they are for electricity.

Unless your computers are performing tasks overnight like a virus scan or backup, there’s no great reason to leave them on.

If you have dozens of computers in an office, the cost of leaving them on can soon add up – even those with power-saving features.

When it comes to charging laptops, check whether your laptop has apps which perform functions while charging. If so, charging overnight will be more expensive than charging for an hour or so in the day.

3.      Get up-to-date thermostats for your air conditioning and heating systems

The latest programmable thermostats can save you money – if you use them correctly.

Programme the thermostat to turn down sharply at times when your staff are not in the office, such as at weekends or overnight.

That could save you between 10% and 30% on your electricity bills.

You’re far less likely to save money if people are constantly tuning the thermostat up or down. Programming a consistent temperature for times when your staff are in the office will help avoid that.

Are you a business in South Wales or further afield looking to save money on your bills?

Call our friendly team for advice on 0845 003 6856. Find out more about our commercial services here: /commercial-services/.

Here’s one thing many office workers hate with a passion: fluorescent strip lights.

The light they give off is harsh and feels unnatural.

It can seemingly take an age for them to turn on.

When something goes wrong, they flicker and buzz annoyingly.

There’s a recognition in light manufacturing that fluorescent strip lighting is loathed by many.

General Electric’s GE Lighting division stopped manufacturing fluorescent bulbs at the end of 2016, concentrating on LEDs and halogens.

Its Chief Operating Officer John Strainic told reporters a fluorescent bulb had become “the light bulb that everybody loves to hate”.

Mr Strainic said they had become crowded out of the marketplace by incandescent bulbs and LED lightbulbs as LED technology becomes cheaper.

There are now several LED strip bulb alternatives like the GE Bright Stik and some LED alternatives can mimic daylight.

Industry insiders are waiting to see if other major manufacturers follow GE’s lead.

So, if you still have fluorescent tubes in your office, what can you do?

Research the cost of replacing them. LED replacements will cost more to buy than fluorescent bulbs, but they are cheaper to run, last longer, and will be a good investment in the long term.

Look at the lighting design in your office – could your lighting be used better?

You can design offices to create distinct spaces even within an open-plan environment, and one of the key ways you can do that is by using effective lighting in different areas.

A conference area might benefit from targeted downlighters or a central feature light, a kitchen area will need brighter lighting than an informal rest area.

Fluorescent lighting can also cause glare problems for people using equipment like computers or light boxes – could your new design diffuse the light for those workers?

Looking for bright ideas for your office lighting design? We can help – we design, install, and maintain commercial lighting in South Wales and beyond. Have a chat with our friendly team on 0845 003 6856 and check out our services for commercial clients: /commercial-services/.