Businesses encouraged to save energy

The benefits of saving energy and switching to a green energy supplier were highlighted at Frome’s recent business breakfast held at Frome Football Club.

Anna Francis, Frome Town Council’s resilience manager who led the event said, “Saving energy reduces pollution and improves our environment. And we urgently need to cut down on energy and associated carbon emissions to ensure that global temperatures stay within safe levels.

“The good news is saving energy also saves money, and creates good corporate social responsibility.

“Simple things can make a big difference. For example, turning the thermostat down 1 degree saves the same amount of money as printing 40 million sheets of paper.”

Studio Prints in the Westway replaced more than 50 halogen spotlights with LEDs  and saved at least £1,500 a year. Business manager Andrew Prince said, “LED technology has come on leaps and bounds. A 120w equivalent bulb uses only 14watts, costs £5.99 and does 25,000 hours compared to 3,000 hours with halogen. Another advantage is that, unlike fluorescent lights, LEDs don’t emit UV which cause fabrics and printing to fade.”

Councillor Jean Boulton added, “The council has a thermal-imaging camera you can borrow, which shows where you have draughts and lose heat. We also have a box of LEDs so you can see which style would work for you – they save so much energy”.

Other tips such as using an ethical bank and an ethical pension can also make a huge difference and there are ethical investment platforms such as Abundance, Ethex and Trine that provide lots of opportunities to support renewables and get a good return.  So it is good for your pocket and for your conscience.

The next business breakfast will be on 6th February.

For more information contact Anna on: francisa@frome towncouncil.gov.uk