Smart Tips For Energy Efficiency - Office Equipment
The business world is highly automated nowadays. Computers and electronics equipment are used extensively to achieve higher productivity. The total energy consumed by office equipment, together with the space cooling requirement to offset the waste heat generated by the office equipment, accounts for a considerably large proportion of the total office energy consumption.
Smart Choice of Equipment
-
Purchase office equipment with power management feature
'Power management' or 'energy saving' feature for computer and office equipment such as photocopiers and printers, can power off unnecessary components within the equipment while maintaining essential function or memory when the equipment is idle or after the user-specified duration of inactivity. This feature helps reducing energy consumption and the air-conditioning load.
- Consider using laptop computers
If available, choose to work with a laptop rather than a desktop computer. A laptop provides you with mobility and it uses less energy than an average desktop unit.
-
Choose multifunction device
Consider purchasing a compact machine which can function as a printer / copier / fax machine instead of purchasing three separated devices. This will certainly reduce energy usage.
- Look for products registered with Energy Efficient Labelling Scheme (EELS)|
EELS is launched by the Electrical and Mechanical Services Department. The registered models of electrical appliances in the market have undergone testing and their energy efficiency performance is recognized. Photocopiers, laser printers and multi-function devices are included in the list of products available for registration. Just choose the energy efficient type devices to save energy.
-
Replace CRT monitors with LCD monitors
Monitors of Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) technology consume less energy than conventional Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) monitors.
Energy Efficient Practices
-
Shut down office equipment at night, on weekends and before holidays
Shutting down all office equipment when not in use can save significant amount of energy. If your computers must be left on round the clock, turn off the monitors when they are not in use, as they will consume most energy. Besides, screen saver does not save energy, complex screen saver actually increases energy usage. In addition, timer socket would be an effective means to cut off the power supply for office equipment after office hours.
- Disconnect battery chargers and portable transformers when not in use
Battery chargers and portable transformers (for equipment power supply) consume energy even when they are idle, i.e. when the batteries are fully charged with the equipment switched off. Use switched socket to disconnect power supply for idling equipment.
- Schedule copying in batches
Copying on an ad-hoc basis requires equipment to be turned on for most of the time and warmed up frequently. Scheduling copying in batches enables you to increase the length of time that the equipment can be turned off and this helps to reduce energy consumption.
- Only print colour when essential
Typical colour printers use more energy than black-and-white ones. Minimizing the number of colour copies you make can reduce your energy costs and save expensive colour inks.