| Have a member of staff responsible for checking all utility bills - Make sure they know how the bills are calculated, what tariffs are available, etc. |
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| Carry out your own readings of all energy and water meters each month - Carry out your own readings of all energy and water meters each month - Use the information to plot patterns of use |
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| Check that all utility bills are accurate and that any estimates are reasonable -Even the largest utility companies make mistakes |
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| Annually review the tariffs you use - Annually review the tariffs you use - Not only do your usage patterns change, your suppliers also change the deals they offer |
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| Monitor overnight energy usage -Check if it is being used by essential equipment and if so that you have the best overnight tariff. |
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| Make the best use of cheap rate electricity - If you can arrange usage by water heaters etc so that 15% of total electricity usage occurs during off-peak hours, you might benefit from switching to a day/night tariff. |
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| If you are on a Maximum Demand tariff, review your supply capacity - If your declared supply capacity is more than 15% higher than your highest Maximum Demand, contact your supplier to have it lowered |
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| Find ways to reduce usage during peak hours - Try rescheduling non-essential loads |
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| If you are on a monthly tariff, check your power factor - Check that you are not being penalised for a poor power factor |
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| Shop around for a cheaper electricity and/or gas supplier - find out more at http://www.energywatch.org.uk/ |
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| If your site has more than one gas meter, make sure they are aggregated for billing purposes -This can reduce both standing and unit charges and could lead to a better rate |
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| Make sure your water meter is the right size -Standing charges are calculated according to meter size - don't pay for an unnecessarily large one |
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