Be a Scrooge to help save energy this Christmas
06 December 2023
Channelling your inner Ebenezer Scrooge by switching off all lights and unnecessary electrical equipment before the Christmas break will help us save a huge amount of energy and combat soaring bills.
Sometime between the end of the Autmn Term on 8 December and the last day before the Christmas closure on 21 December, most colleagues will be switching on their out of office emails until the University reopens in the new year.
With our energy bill having more than trebled since 2021/22 to £17m this year, the long closure means there are countless opportunities for us all to prevent energy being wasted on heating rooms and powering appliances while we aren’t here.
Support
As part of the Our Future First campaign around individual sustainable behaviours, Sustainability champions in Schools and Functions will be supporting colleagues with the big switch-off.
Those in departments with specialist equipment will help ensure it can be switched off for Christmas where possible.
This also contributes to the major Energy Savings Programme, led by the Estates Sustainability Services team, which is investigating other ways we can maximise the Christmas closure to reduce energy use.
Get more energy-saving advice at the Sustainability team’s December drop-in session at the Library between 11:00-13:30 on 6 December.
Switch-off checklist
Work equipment
- Turn off lights where possible.
- Turn off small power and all non-essential equipment at plug if possible. This includes PC, laptops, side lamps, extra monitors, phone chargers, any other small power devices.
- Turn off conference/AV equipment at the plug.
Heating and cooling
- Close windows and doors.
- If you have locally controlled heating or cooling, turn it off.
In kitchens
- Make sure fridges and/or freezers are defrosted and clean and that doors are closed properly (but no need to switch off).
- Turn off microwaves, kettles, hot taps, and other kitchen equipment (other than fridges and or freezers).
If you identify issues which are preventing equipment being turned off, please report this to estates@reading.ac.uk or sustainability@reading.ac.uk or call the Estates Helpdesk on ext. 7000.