Having been a domestic energy customer for many years, most business owners will be familiar with how their home energy contracts work. But when it comes to contracts from business energy suppliers, they may not realise that there are key differences between domestic energy and business energy – and in this article, we will take a closer look at what these differences are. What are the main differences between domestic and business energy? The following points summarise the main differences between domestic energy and business energy: Energy unit price – Business energy tends to be cheaper per unit, than domestic energy (depending on your business electricity suppliers of course!) However, business energy is subject to 20% VAT while domestic energy is only 5% Business energy also has to take into account levies and energy regulations which domestic energy customers don’t have to worry about Contract terms tend to be longer for business customers than they are for domestic users You will generally need less information and get simple energy quotes as a domestic customer, whereas business energy quotes tend to be more complex and so need more information from you at the start   Is business energy cheaper than domestic energy? Following on from the information above there may be business owners out there wondering, is business energy cheaper than domestic energy? Although this seems a simple question, the answer is quite complex, and there are a number of factors that need to be taken into account. The actual electricity and gas supplied are the same for business customers as they are for domestic customers, the contracts will differ wildly for both. This is because domestic and business energy suppliers operate in different ways, and prices will vary depending on a variety of factors. Average business energy rates vs average domestic energy rates Electricity and gas prices may seem cheaper for business customers than they are for domestic users as businesses tend to pay a lower price per unit for their energy, due to the large volumes they consume leading them to economies of scale – so the larger the business the lower the unit rate. This means that most business owners are able to negotiate and choose contracts based on their particular needs, which is something that domestic customers are not able to do – they are just charged the same price as everyone else in their region. But is business energy actually cheaper overall than domestic energy? No. Not when you take into account the other charges that are then added on, such as: Levies such as the Climate Change Levy (CCL) Pricing criteria such as business size and contract length Price fluctuations with variable price contracts VAT Wholesale energy market pricing changing at renewal   Finding the best business energy deal can be a confusing and time-consuming task. But D-ENERGi is here to help. Our team of energy experts will negotiate with business electricity and business gas suppliers on your behalf and secure you the best business energy deal.

If you are wondering how you can save on business electricity, then you have come to the right place. The team at D-ENERGi is committed to selling and delivering market-leading business electricity and gas energy products in order to help small, medium, and large businesses reduce their business energy costs. One of the ways we do this is by providing a service that allows you to compare business energy per kWh with no hassle, to ensure you are on the best tariff for you. But what else can your business do to help reduce your energy costs? Here are some tips on how to lower your energy consumption, which should in turn lead to lower energy bills. What is energy efficiency? Energy efficiency is the name given to the process of businesses and domestic customers using less of the world’s energy resources to produce the same or an improved result. One example of this is the 90% less energy you will use if you replace all of the traditional fluorescent bulbs in your office with LED. How to lower energy consumption as a business The best way to lower your energy consumption as a business is to get all of your employees to think about the energy they use and follow some of these tips below: Save 90% of energy by replacing your office desktops with laptops. A high-end desktop will cost around £140 to run for 8 hours a day compared to a laptop that costs around £7 Replace laserjet printers with inkjet printers to save 90% of energy on printing. However, you will need to balance the lower cost of energy with the higher cost of inkjet printer cartridges Make sure employees switch off all of the equipment at night and at the weekends, rather than leaving them in sleep or standby as many pieces of equipment will consume nearly the same amount of energy when they are in standby mode as they do when switched on Switch lights off when they are not in use – you could try putting stickers near light switches to remind people to do this Use motion sensors in places that are used less frequently, such as corridors and toilets Let natural light brighten up your office space by opening blinds fully – you may find you don’t need the lights on at all Try and keep your business premises at an even and regular temperature rather than flicking the heating on or the air conditioning on and off all of the time   These are just some of the tips we have learnt to help businesses lower their energy consumption, but the best thing you can do to save money on your business energy bills is to ask the D-ENERGi team to help you compare business electricity per kWh.

A half hourly electricity meter is a special meter that relies on Automatic Meter Reading (AMR) technology to provide businesses and energy suppliers with more accurate electricity readings. The system utilises a fixed line that sends updated meter readings from the business to the energy supplier every half hour. This means that half hourly electricity tariffs tend to be cheaper as billing is more accurate thanks to the fully automated remote reading of the meter on a regular basis, so there is no need for estimation. The other benefit half hourly electricity brings to businesses, is that business owners can request their consumption data from their energy supplier. By using this to review their energy usage throughout the day, they can work towards operating more efficiently by reducing their operational energy usage overall. Does my business need a half hourly electricity meter? Half hourly electricity meters are compulsory for businesses who use 100kw of electricity or more. If your business has usage of 70kw of electricity or more than you can request to have a half hourly meter fitted by your business electricity supplier. If you have recently moved to new business premises and want to find out if the premises have a half hourly meter fitted already it is easy to discover this. Just check the last energy bill sent by the supplier – if it contains a number starting with 00 in the top left then there is already a half hourly meter fitted. How does half hourly electricity billing differ from regular billing? Thanks to the fact that your energy supplier will be getting regular meter readings from your premises, you should find that your half hourly electricity bill is better tailored to your requirements and usage. This is because your usage data is much more accurate and so it eliminates the need for estimated bills, which is what usually happens when there isn’t a half hourly electricity meter installed. P272 Mandatory Half Hourly Meter Changes From April 2017, all businesses who are supplied as 05, 06, 07, or 08 class and who have an advanced meter capable of recording half hourly consumption data are no longer settled against a Non-Half Hourly read, instead, they are settled using a Half Hourly read using Half Hourly data. These changes were introduced as part of an OFGEM-backed revision named P272 which requires all of the aforementioned meters to switch via a Change of Management Class (COMC) to a half hourly meter. We have this article has helped you understand a little more about half hourly electricity and how it can benefit businesses. If you would like your own half hourly electricity quote then please get in touch with the D-ENERGi team.

You may not realise it, but there are actually plenty of cheap gas suppliers here in the UK. Here on the D-ENERGi website, we make it easier for you to find out which gas supplier can give you the cheapest business gas prices. The easiest way to save money on your business gas and business electricity bills is to talk to the team at D-ENERGI about a free quote. By doing this, you will save yourself the hassle of seeing which gas providers there are in your area, as we do all of that for you. More importantly, we can also compare business gas prices and find out which of these companies can offer you the best energy deal on the plan that best suits your business needs. All you need to do is tell us your business name and postcode, and we will call you straight back with the best quotes available on the market, and you can then decide which offer gives you the best deal and switch. Will I get worse customer service from a business cheaper gas supplier? No. This is a myth. When you compare business gas prices through our website, we will also tell you how well the energy supplier ranks for customer service through people who are already working with them. That way, you can include knowledge of their customer satisfaction scores in your decision of which company to swap to. Will switching to the cheapest business gas supplier be hard? Not at all. Once you have chosen your business gas supplier from the free quote we give you, we will contact your new supplier and your existing supplier and let them know that you have decided to switch suppliers. We handle all of the paperwork so that you don’t have any hassle at all. You may not know this, but all energy companies use the same supply lines and gas pipes, so there is no need for anyone to come round to your business and lay new gas pipes or rewire it. And, at no point during the switching process will your business be left without gas or electricity. The only thing you will need to do when switching to a cheaper business gas supplier is to take a final meter reading once you have confirmed the switch, as this will ensure the final bill you receive from your old supplier is an accurate one. You will also need to cancel any direct debits set up in your old supplier’s name, as this will prevent them from charging you when you have stopped consuming energy from them. By comparing your business gas prices with D-ENERGi once a year, you can be confident that you are paying the cheapest business gas prices and are continuing to save money on your business gas bills.