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Lower Your Home Office
Operating Costs to Improve
Your Bottom Line
By Rozanne Weissman
For the growing number of Americans
working from home – some 18 million
home-based business owners and some
24 million telecommuters, not to mention
unemployed folks conducting job searches
from their own PCs – higher energy bills
for combined home offices and residences
are a fact of life.
Higher electricity bills to power office equipment and lighting are an inevitable cost
of doing business from home. Trips to the kitchen for meals and snacks and to other
areas of the home for various needs also eat up electricity, especially when lights,
appliances, and electronics in other rooms aren’t turned off when they are no longer
in use. The challenge of keeping home office energy bills from eating up the profits
is particularly tough during the frigid winters, or hot summers that require home
workers to run heating or air conditioning 24/7.
Despite these challenges, the Alliance to Save Energy says home-based
entrepreneurs, telecommuters, and job-seekers can reduce energy costs while
staying comfortable and “taking care of business” with these tips:
You’re the boss – so manage your office equipment.
Activate “sleep” features on computers, copiers, and other machines that power
down when the equipment is on but not in use for a while, and turn off equipment
during long periods of non-use to cut energy costs and improve longevity. Screen
savers do NOT save energy.
Don’t let profits go out the window (or door).
Why waste your heating and air conditioning dollars? Plug those home office
energy “leaks” by weather-stripping between moving parts (doors and their frames)
and caulking between nonmoving parts (window frames and walls). Insulate that
office properly – as well as your whole home.
Light up your office efficiently.
With lights on much of the day, electricity use invariably increases. To make
matters worse in warm weather, inefficient lighting can overheat your office,
increasing cooling costs. Save money by installing compact fluorescent light bulbs
(CFLs) and task lighting in your home office. CFLs burn cooler and use up to 75
percent less energy than either halogen or incandescent bulbs. Halogen torchieres
are expensive to operate and burn so hot they can cause fires. Instead, choose a
safer, more efficient Energy Star torchiere lamp.
Be an “Energy Star.”
To cut related annual energy expenses by 30 percent, choose Energy Star-labeled
computers, monitors, printers, scanners, copiers, fax machines, multi-function
devices (machines that combine printing, scanning, and faxing), lighting, cordless
phones, answering machines, audio equipment, and room air conditioners. Energy
Star is the symbol for energy efficiency.
Ever-wakeful electronics can drain your pocketbook.
Work requiring electronics such as phones, TVs, VCRs, DVD players, or cable
boxes can further hike up those electric bills. That’s because they consume energy
even while switched off to keep display clocks lit and memory chips and remote
controls working. Energy Star-labeled electronics use less energy in the “off” mode.
Treat your heating and cooling system as office equipment. While working in your
home office, close off the heating/cooling vents in unoccupied rooms. Clean or
replace furnace and room air conditioner air filters once a month for increased
efficiency. Give your furnace or heat pump a professional “tune-up” each year, and
ask the technician to make sure the system is sized and operating at peak efficiency
and that ducts are not leaking. Look for Energy Star furnaces and heat pumps.
Let the sunshine in.
In colder months, allow the sun to help heat your home office by keeping blinds or
drapes on sun-exposed windows open in the daytime. Retain the heat overnight by
closing the blinds after dark. In the summer, reduce cooling costs by drawing
shades or blinds on sun-exposed windows and glass doors.
Refinancing your mortgage?
Consider wrapping into the loan the cost of adding on an energy-efficient home
office or increasing the energy efficiency of your existing home office. The loan
interest could be tax deductible.
Check out these free resources.
Free Alliance to Save Energy resources: Obtain a free booklet, Power$mart: Easy
Tips to Save Money and the Planet, by calling 1-888-878-3256.
Free Department of Energy resources: Obtain a free booklet, Energy Savers: Tips on
Saving Energy and Money at Home, in English or Spanish by calling 1-877-337-3463
or online and view an animated version at www.energysavers.gov.
Free Environmental Protection Agency resources: Obtain a free copy of Guide to
Energy-Efficient Cooling and Heating which is available at www.energystar.gov
from the heating and cooling product pages or by calling 1-888-STAR-YES (1-888-
782-7937).
Meet the writer:
Rozanne Weissman is the Director of Communications and Marketing at
The Alliance to Save Energy which promotes energy efficiency worldwide to
achieve a healthier economy, a cleaner environment and greater energy security.
Operating Costs to Improve
Your Bottom Line
By Rozanne Weissman
For the growing number of Americans
working from home – some 18 million
home-based business owners and some
24 million telecommuters, not to mention
unemployed folks conducting job searches
from their own PCs – higher energy bills
for combined home offices and residences
are a fact of life.
Higher electricity bills to power office equipment and lighting are an inevitable cost
of doing business from home. Trips to the kitchen for meals and snacks and to other
areas of the home for various needs also eat up electricity, especially when lights,
appliances, and electronics in other rooms aren’t turned off when they are no longer
in use. The challenge of keeping home office energy bills from eating up the profits
is particularly tough during the frigid winters, or hot summers that require home
workers to run heating or air conditioning 24/7.
Despite these challenges, the Alliance to Save Energy says home-based
entrepreneurs, telecommuters, and job-seekers can reduce energy costs while
staying comfortable and “taking care of business” with these tips:
You’re the boss – so manage your office equipment.
Activate “sleep” features on computers, copiers, and other machines that power
down when the equipment is on but not in use for a while, and turn off equipment
during long periods of non-use to cut energy costs and improve longevity. Screen
savers do NOT save energy.
Don’t let profits go out the window (or door).
Why waste your heating and air conditioning dollars? Plug those home office
energy “leaks” by weather-stripping between moving parts (doors and their frames)
and caulking between nonmoving parts (window frames and walls). Insulate that
office properly – as well as your whole home.
Light up your office efficiently.
With lights on much of the day, electricity use invariably increases. To make
matters worse in warm weather, inefficient lighting can overheat your office,
increasing cooling costs. Save money by installing compact fluorescent light bulbs
(CFLs) and task lighting in your home office. CFLs burn cooler and use up to 75
percent less energy than either halogen or incandescent bulbs. Halogen torchieres
are expensive to operate and burn so hot they can cause fires. Instead, choose a
safer, more efficient Energy Star torchiere lamp.
Be an “Energy Star.”
To cut related annual energy expenses by 30 percent, choose Energy Star-labeled
computers, monitors, printers, scanners, copiers, fax machines, multi-function
devices (machines that combine printing, scanning, and faxing), lighting, cordless
phones, answering machines, audio equipment, and room air conditioners. Energy
Star is the symbol for energy efficiency.
Ever-wakeful electronics can drain your pocketbook.
Work requiring electronics such as phones, TVs, VCRs, DVD players, or cable
boxes can further hike up those electric bills. That’s because they consume energy
even while switched off to keep display clocks lit and memory chips and remote
controls working. Energy Star-labeled electronics use less energy in the “off” mode.
Treat your heating and cooling system as office equipment. While working in your
home office, close off the heating/cooling vents in unoccupied rooms. Clean or
replace furnace and room air conditioner air filters once a month for increased
efficiency. Give your furnace or heat pump a professional “tune-up” each year, and
ask the technician to make sure the system is sized and operating at peak efficiency
and that ducts are not leaking. Look for Energy Star furnaces and heat pumps.
Let the sunshine in.
In colder months, allow the sun to help heat your home office by keeping blinds or
drapes on sun-exposed windows open in the daytime. Retain the heat overnight by
closing the blinds after dark. In the summer, reduce cooling costs by drawing
shades or blinds on sun-exposed windows and glass doors.
Refinancing your mortgage?
Consider wrapping into the loan the cost of adding on an energy-efficient home
office or increasing the energy efficiency of your existing home office. The loan
interest could be tax deductible.
Check out these free resources.
Free Alliance to Save Energy resources: Obtain a free booklet, Power$mart: Easy
Tips to Save Money and the Planet, by calling 1-888-878-3256.
Free Department of Energy resources: Obtain a free booklet, Energy Savers: Tips on
Saving Energy and Money at Home, in English or Spanish by calling 1-877-337-3463
or online and view an animated version at www.energysavers.gov.
Free Environmental Protection Agency resources: Obtain a free copy of Guide to
Energy-Efficient Cooling and Heating which is available at www.energystar.gov
from the heating and cooling product pages or by calling 1-888-STAR-YES (1-888-
782-7937).
Meet the writer:
Rozanne Weissman is the Director of Communications and Marketing at
The Alliance to Save Energy which promotes energy efficiency worldwide to
achieve a healthier economy, a cleaner environment and greater energy security.
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