Clever ways Brits are saving money at work – including using air fryers & ditching hand driers

SMALL business owners are coming up with increasingly creative ways to reduce their energy usage, such as encouraging working from home, ditching hand driers – and installing air fryers.

A study of 500 SMEs with 5-50 employees found 78 per cent have adopted more cost saving working practices over the last 12 months to reduce their energy usage. And 24 per cent of those taking these steps have put at least six new measures in place.

Cut energy costs by using an air fryer instead of an ovenCredit: SWNS

Other ways to try and save energy include limiting the time the heating is turned on (33 per cent), and removing printers or trying to be completely paper free (21 per cent).

It also emerged 40 per cent are turning down the flow temperature on their boiler by four degrees, while 43 per cent turn off and unplug office equipment on a daily basis.

The research, commissioned by British Gas, found others have installed motion sensor lightbulbs (23 per cent), replaced traditional lighting with LEDs (45 per cent), and use different types of heaters and heating systems (20 per cent).

These measures have led to the average small business owner saving £450 on energy bills over the last 12 months.

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While 74 per cent have never paid more attention to finding ways of cutting their energy costs than they have over the last 12 months.

More than four in 10 (45 per cent) won’t relax any of the measures they have implemented so far – although 18 per cent claim the opposite. And 36 per cent are likely to introduce further energy saving steps when considering the year ahead.

Jamie Oliver make ‘mid-week masterpiece’ in the air fryer in less than 15 minutes

It also emerged 34 per cent have very much enjoyed implementing energy cutting methods, and 66 per cent find it easy trying to think of new ways to save energy within the workplace.

Asides from the energy cost saving aspect, nine in 10 think it is good that a lot of their methods are also having a positive effect on the environment.

And 21 per cent of all those polled, via OnePoll, claim that reducing their company’s carbon footprint is more important than reducing costs.

Matt Wood added: “By implementing small energy-saving hacks into their day-to-day operations, businesses can start to reduce their overall environmental impact, too.

“While saving on bills might be their primary motivation right now, rather than becoming more sustainable, businesses can feel reassured that the changes they are implementing are helping to drive down costs and carbon at the same time.”