SMEs wasting millions through leaving computers on
Green IT news – by Ann Elise Taylor
3rd August 2011
UK small businesses are throwing away £30.8 million on a daily basis by failing to shut down their computers when the workday is done, new research from leading energy supplier E.ON revealed.
One-third of UK
small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) aren’t
powering down their
PCs at night, leading to massive amounts of energy being wasted after offices clear out, according to a release from
E.ON. To make matters worse, one in five aren’t turning off computers on the weekend either.
The energy giant, which claims to be "on a mission to get British business energy fit," said that much of this
waste is attributable to businesses buying in to a common computing myth.
"Ten per cent of small business owners wrongly assume that leaving computers on standby at night uses the same amount of energy as shutting them down completely," Iain Walker, head of Business Sales at E.ON, said. "Introducing small changes into the culture of your business, like turning equipment off fully at night, can have a significant financial impact on your energy bills."
Retail sector worst offender
Small businesses in the retail sector are the most common perpetrators, the release said, with over two-thirds not shutting down their computers at night and 59 per cent only powering down computers on the weekend. Professional sector respondents performed poorly as well, with 60 per cent admitting to not turning off their PCs when the day is done.
The agriculture sector proved to be the greenest of those surveyed, with 69 per cent shutting down every night. Businesses in the property sector followed closely, with 61 per cent of respondents claiming to power down each night.
North-south divide
Regional patterns emerged as well, with Southern UK businesses boasting the best energy awareness, as opposed to Northern UK businesses, which were rated as some of the worst.
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