Gas and electricity prices have increased substantially over the last five months, and, unlike households, businesses aren't protected by a price cap. Sports facilities have thus felt the impact of soaring energy costs.

At AquaSwitch, we’ve looked at some simple ways to manage this increase and reduce your annual energy bill with energy-saving tips.

Our top tips to reduce energy costs:

1. Compare business energy

By comparing business energy prices, you’ll ensure your sports centre gets the best deal possible. If you have 12 months or less on your energy contract, you can shop around and lock in a more competitive rate for the future.

Even reducing your rate by a couple of pence a unit will save your business thousands in the long run.

2. Embrace renewable energy sources

Go solar. By installing solar panels, you’ll make considerable savings in the long term. By installing solar panels, businesses will typically recoup their investment within 3-4 years.

Solar panels are much lower in price than 10 years ago, and the technology is better, meaning they last up to 30 years, so these can be a great long term investment that helps your finances and the environment.

3. Insulate your facilities correctly

By properly insulating your facilities, you can combat volatile energy rates. It’s a long term strategy but will help significantly reduce the energy needed to heat your sports facility.

A properly insulated building will require much less energy to heat during the winter. During the winter, energy consumption typically soars for poorly insulated properties, vastly increasing the cost of energy.

Insulate your facility with high-quality material, and you'll see a huge decrease in energy wastage.

4. Educate your staff members on energy efficiency

Educating your staff on the importance of switching computers off or turning lights off when they’re in use will save your business money on energy bills in the long run. It’s also a great way to reduce your carbon footprint if your staff are environmentally conscious.

5. Use eco mode

Make use of eco mode if your facility has a dishwasher or a boiler. It takes a little longer but uses far less electricity, reducing your energy usage and increasing overall energy efficiency – a win-win.

6. Replace your boiler with a heat pump

Or maybe replace your boiler with a heat pump? Most properties' boilers burn natural gas to power the central heating. If you compare business gas prices, you’ll notice that gas is more expensive than ever. There is an alternative.

Heat pumps use the outside air to generate heat and only use a small amount of electricity. It’s perfect if you generate your own electricity through solar panels as it won’t cost you anything extra and is 100 per cent renewable.

7. Install a smart meter

By installing a smart meter, your business immediately benefits from this. The first benefit is that you’ll be paying accurate bills with no estimated consumption.

Secondly, you can monitor your energy usage daily, enabling you to spot anomalies in your energy usage. You can then act fast to rectify any problems.

8. Install timers

Smart timers are a valuable asset to your business. You can use these on anything from your facility's industrial printers to the lights in the sports hall.

Use these timers to stop your electrical equipment from going on standby mode when no one is around on evenings and weekends. Standby uses a considerable amount of energy while doing absolutely nothing.

Using timers for lighting or sensors will turn off lights when they’re not in use and save a lot of energy, especially when lighting a room with no one in.

Have you considered an energy audit?

Energy audits review your current operations and assess how and where you use energy. An audit can provide you with valuable information on reducing your consumption and where to install devices that will either reduce your energy usage or provide you with renewable energy.

It’s worth asking your current energy provider to audit your energy setup, as most offer this as a free-of-charge service.

If not, and you’re switching energy suppliers, most energy suppliers will be able to provide an energy audit once you’ve swapped over to them.

There are three types of energy audits:

– Over-the-phone energy audits.

– On-site energy audits.

– Internal energy audits undertaken by staff using a checklist provided by an energy expert or energy supplier.

Benefits of an energy audit:

– Save money.

– Reduce your impact on the environment.

– Promote sustainability.

– Lower your exposure to energy price increases.

At AquaSwitch, we look to help businesses save money across their utilities. Using our business energy comparison service, you can significantly reduce the cost of your sports facilities' energy bill.