Lara @EcoEfficentHouse

Why you need to start monitoring your home office energy use

Working from home has posed many challenges for us. Like creating a workspace in our homes. Aside from office furniture and supplies being out of stock almost everywhere or not being able to go on the office daily coffee run, one of the biggest problems faced with working from home is paying for our own energy and internet during work hours!

Therefore, you should start to monitor you home office energy use. Not only will this provide you with short term savings on your next energy bill but differentiating your home office energy use from the rest of your house can help you claim your energy use at tax time.

“But how do I monitor my home office energy?”

The simplest solution is with Eco Efficient House’s Accompanied Monitoring paired with the Smappee Energy Monitor & Switch. We recommend this solution as without our Accompanied Monitoring, interpreting your own energy data can be quite confusing. You may not realise your true savings potential if your data is not analysed by one of our energy professionals.

The Smappee Switch allows you to accurately monitor each appliance it is attached to. It is as simple as plugging it into the wall. When using the Smappee Switch for your home office, we suggest plugging all your home office equipment into the one power board (and attaching a Smappee Switch to that power board) to accurately divide our home office energy from the rest of the home. Doing this will also allow you to remotely switch off all home office equipment if you forget before leaving for dinner.

Our client Chris has recently implemented this solution into his home office. Here is some data on the difference in his energy usage from working at home:

As you can see, working at home significantly increases his total day-to-day energy usage. Whereas working in the office, energy usage remains significantly lower, aside from where consumption spikes with turning on the heater before bed. Since monitoring his home office usage with our Smappee Energy Monitor, he has been able to reduce his energy consumption on a working day by 15%. He was able to do this with the following the advice we provided, to implement the Smappee Switch monitoring system.

It is also important to have accurate home office energy data readily available for when it comes to tax time to include in your expenses claim. For more information on this, please visit the ATO website.

“What should I be monitoring in my home office?”

Ideally you should try and monitor the following for your home office:

✅ Laptop
✅ Computer monitor
✅ Printer
✅ Lamps
✅ Lights for your home office room
✅ Indirect energy use of your office (such as your A/C)

Though you can’t add the lights in the roof to your power board, these can still be monitored and added to your collective home office use. Ask one of our energy experts how you can do this.

Other quick fixes that you change around your home office to save energy:

✅ Use a laptop instead of a desktop. Laptops used approximately 5 times less energy
✅ Install LED lights in your home office
✅ Try move your desk near a window to maximise natural light as much as possible
✅ Leave that air conditioner or heater OFF! In winter, warm or home naturally by shutting doors and windows; and in summer use a fan or open the window to cool your home with a natural breeze

While some of us have no choice to work from home, for others it might be a choice to improve the work life balance. Either way, working from home may only be more enjoyable if your energy consumption is managed accurately and correctly.

Make sure that you are getting the best energy deal by getting in touch with us!