How businesses can save energy and resources

How businesses can save energy

I have thought for a while there are many ways businesses could save energy and resources, some of which are quite simple but not yet in use so maybe UN-thought of so far.

Escalators travelators and lifts

Firstly this applies to travelators and escalators, you see these in shopping centres, high street stores as well as supermarkets. They are on constantly and never stop, so here they can save a big chunk of money by having sensors fitted to them. If you go to a till and put your shopping on the belt it stops at a point when a sensor is tripped next to the cashier. This system could be fitted to escalators and travelators so they only run when people want/do use them.

It would no doubt involve some more technology compared to the sensors on the belts at the checkouts because its more like an on switch sensor rather than an off switch sensor fitted to the belts at checkouts. There would need to be things in place so that they wouldn't stop while people are using them and also its probably best that they are allowed to continue to run for a short period of time after people get off them to be sure everyone has got off and allow people to get on, so they're not stopping and starting over and over for short periods of time.

Lifts

Lifts have shut off's as they are and then switch back on when the lift is called to move the elevator to the floor required, they have lighting in lifts that i believe is on constantly in most lifts, this could be switched off when the lift hasn't been used for a certain length of time.

That's it for now more to follow. +Energy Saving Trust

For the best roast potatoes this christmas

Best roast potatoes

For the best roast potatoes These are by far the best option with minimal effort. Peel and cut or just cut, put in the oven with vegetable/sunflower oil nothing else needed, not even meat juices so suitable for vegitarians also. Brilliant results every time.

These are available now and for the next few months, every year i wait for them to become available again as i love my roast potatoes and you cant beat these. I have tried many potatoes over the years for roasties including the top brands and these win every time for taste and satisfaction.

+Asda +Potatoes

Wood and building material reclaim centres

Wood reclaim centres

Instead of going to your local diy store for timber why not look for wood reclaim centres or building material reclaimed items you can often pick up what you want thats used or things that have not been used by builders (excess stock) it can save you a fair bit of money

+Building Materials

UK Energy Prices (what they dont tell you)

Mains gas the con (UK Energy Prices) & electric

There is a big con in gas prices for mains gas and many of you may be paying it thinking your on a good tariff. You pay a unit price and often that is split into 2 rates but many of you dont know about this. You get a high rate and a low rate e.g. 9p per unit high rate and 5p per unit low rate.

Often you need to use thousands of units before you start paying the low rate and often its the case you will never get onto the low rate at all. Unit usage before going onto low rate varies from  1000 to 2500 units, now i checked my unit usage for a year on my yearly statement (by the way i wasnt on one of these dual tariff's i was on a single rate and no standing charge) and i had used 948 units in a year. If i were on a dual tariff id have been ripped off big time.

Here's what you can do, find out your unit usage for a year on your bill/statement or if you havent got it then ring your supplier see if they can give you the figure. Next find out what the rates are, single tarrif or dual tariff and any standing charge. Now goto a price comparison site and enter the figures to get some results, note down the results of the best ones and dont use the site any further, go and check their websites e.g. british gas etc.

Now here's some things to take into account, first if your on a single rate tarrif it is usually slightly higher than the low rate on a dual tariff e.g. low rate 5p single rate 6p. This may be more as i suggest but if you work out the figures for the high rate you will find the single tariff is cheaper in the longrun. Now check for a standing charge, i think its best to not have one but there may be single tariff rates that are better but include a standing charge. Work out the figures as you may be better off with a standing charge and a lower single rate tarrif.

A lot of companies use dual tariff's and dont tell you unless you ask. Its worth checking what your tariff(s) are and if you can save money by switching. There are several comparison sites online such as uswitch that you can get the information you need. I know it takes a while to switch, 6 to 8 weeks which is annoying but it would be worth it especially if your being ripped off at the moment.

We all want to try and save energy but we need to keep warm too, the chances are if you find the right company and switch (or stay on your current one if its the best) the chances are you wont switch again for years or maybe even never if they stay good.

NEVER be swayed by things like earn clubcard points, cold calling you at the door and on the phone, if they seem convincing tell them you will think about it and do a bit of research. For me its often that these sort of things are a con and you end up paying more for your gas in order to get these bonuses.

If a company says they can save you say £100 a year and your on a Card meter (or not) think about it, £100 shared by 52 weeks is £1.90 a week which isnt a bad saving but it depends how you look at it, for me any less than that its not worth bothering with to switch companies. For example say you saved £52 a year thats £1 a week it hardly breaks the bank so its not worth it in my opinion.

Foot note electricity prices

Electricity is easier to work out usually it consists of a unit rate and with or without a standing charge, you can use the above info and apply it to electric prices.

I hope this helps some of you save a bit of money and im pleased to write this article above to explain a few things about energy prices. Be aware some information may or may not be correct, this article is a generalisation, and its something you probably wont find to read elsewhere online as its too detailed.You will usually just find unit prices standing charges and savings but this is the things they dont  show you.

Thanks for reading +UK Energy Saving +uSwitch

why keep buying tin openers?

Why do people keep buying tin openers

This has always puzzled me why people keep buying manual tin openers, they're hard work and often break so you need to buy a new one. They cost anything from £1 upo maybe £7? why not buy an electric one? ive had a Kenwood one for years now and its brilliant and it cost around £15

Here is the one i have:

You can get them in shiny chrome or white is a bit cheaper. Not only is it a can opener but its a bottle opener as you can see on the front. On the rear it has a knife sharpener too which i regularly use. So why spend a couple of quid every few months or longer and have the hard work of opening tins when you can make it easier. you will save money in the long run not having to buy a new tin opener.

be aware cheaper electric tin openers in my opinion are not as good and wont last so don't skimp on this get a good quality one and it will last you years. I have had mine at least 4 years maybe a bit more and its still going strong. +Kenwood UK +Tin Opener

I'm A Celebrity

I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here

Anyone watch it? i woke up in the middle of the night and thought of an idea, maybe stupid or could be genius! Why not do a show called im NOT a celebrity get me out of here? involve uk residents in the show just like the celebrities. +Jennifer Baker

Survey site do surveys for vouchers

Toluna survey website

I have been a member of +Toluna  for several years now and i do surveys sent to me via email and polls on the website to accumulate points. There's no limit to what you can do and you can do as much or as little as you want. You accumulate points to get vouchers or you can use them for prize draw entries also. click here to visit Toluna.

There are no gains from referring people but the surveys and online polls are very good, I have tried many survey sites over the years and this is one of very few i still use. The reason i still use it is the survey's are regular as are the polls for points. You can also start your own topics and poll's to get you some points but read the FAQ's.

If you do decide to join on the home page put your cursor over explore menu and choose sponsored content. Here you can earn small amounts of points to top up your points total and the more you do the quicker you get enough for a voucher. If you did 5-10 mins a day for a month you would get enough for a £15 voucher, They do love to shop vouchers which are high street vouchers.

The time to get vouchers is 4-6 weeks which is a bit of a downside but if your only spending a few minutes a day on this site its worth it. You can choose to just build up your points for higher value vouchers, you decide when to cash your points so you could build them up as much as you want.

Survey points can take some time to credit to your account but this is the same with all survey sites, with Toluna this is reasonable. Some survey's screen you out early others can get you samples of products to test. There is also a test area in the rewards menu that you can apply to test products.