This Christmas we are again encouraging all staff to turn off equipment and appliances with the aim of reducing our energy consumption over the holiday period.
During the 2016/7 Christmas closure of University buildings, University Park alone consumed over £110,000 of electricity. Analysis of daily data shows that on Christmas day, energy use was 66% of the typical term-time daily average, representing a large amount of unnecessary use from appliances and equipment left switched on, or on standby. The graph below shows overall electricity throughout 2016.
Use of electricity at 4am on Christmas morning was 3,300 kW, corresponding to an hourly cost of £330. In order to help the University cut costs as well as carbon emissions, you can help by:
- Talking to your office/school/facilities manager to agree responsibilities for switching off lights, shared kitchen and office equipment (shredders, hot water boilers, microwaves etc.).
- Surveying labs and workshops to identify what equipment can be switched off during the Christmas break. Where possible, switch off fume cupboards: un-used fume cupboards can waste huge amounts of warmed air – over a year, a fume cupboard left running 24/7 uses a similar amount of energy as a family car! Remember that some equipment may affect other labs.
- Shutting all windows and doors.
- Reporting any dripping taps or jammed windows to the Estates Office Helpdesk
- Switching off and unplugging any hot water boilers or water coolers. Put a notice on the boiler/cooler so that the first person back after Christmas knows to run off the water (approx 10 mugs) before making a drink.
- If you have a kitchen with a fridge-freezer, use the closure period to defrost it (to make it run more efficiently) and keep it off over the break. Put a notice on the fridge door to notify people.
- Checking that taps are not left running.
Posted on Wednesday 6th December 2017