Closing the office for one extra day a week could cut a business’s annual energy use by about 14 per cent, according to new research from the British comparison site Uswitch Business Energy, but only if the building is actually powered down on the day everyone works from home.
The analysis estimates that a large business could save about 16,800 kilowatt-hours of energy and £2,763 a year by moving from five days in the workplace to four. A medium-sized firm could save an estimated £2,069, a small business £987 and a microbusiness about £500.
“Businesses won’t save money simply by sending everyone home,” said Ben Gallizzi, an energy expert at Uswitch Business Energy. “Heating, air conditioning, lights and office equipment need to be switched off or turned down too, otherwise they could be paying to power an empty building.”
The figures are based on British businesses and prices in pounds sterling, but the logic behind them applies to any workplace, including offices in Canada.
Uswitch started from its August 2026 benchmark for how much gas and electricity a typical micro, small, medium and large business in the United Kingdom uses in a year. It then assumed that 70 per cent of that energy depends on people being in the building, such as heating, cooling, lighting and office equipment. The other 30 per cent was treated as background use that continues regardless, from servers, refrigeration and security systems.
Dropping from five occupied days to four is a 20 per cent cut in occupied days. Applied to the 70 per cent of energy that depends on occupancy, that works out to 14 per cent of total annual use. Each estimate in the study matches that rate: the 16,800 kWh saving for a large business, for example, is 14 per cent of 120,000 kWh a year.
The study priced those savings using Uswitch’s August 2026 average unit rates for gas and electricity. It left out standing charges, the fixed daily fees a business pays whether or not anyone is in the building.
| Business size | Potential energy saving | Potential cost saving |
|---|---|---|
| Microbusiness | 2,800 kWh | £500 |
| Small business | 5,950 kWh | £987 |
| Medium business | 12,250 kWh | £2,069 |
| Large business | 16,800 kWh | £2,763 |
Source: Uswitch Business Energy, based on August 2026 U.K. benchmark consumption and unit rates. Savings are estimates, not guarantees.
Uswitch is clear that these are potential savings. Actual results depend on the building, the energy tariff, the working pattern, the controls a business has and the equipment that has to stay on. A business that closes the office but leaves the thermostat and lights on its usual schedule would save little or nothing.
That caveat matters for Canadian employers in particular. Many offices here are in leased space where the landlord controls heating and cooling, so tenants may need to ask building management to change schedules before they see any benefit. In a Canadian winter, a building also cannot simply be left cold: heat has to stay on at a lower setting to protect pipes and equipment, which reduces how much energy an empty day can save.
Gallizzi offered five ways to stop an empty office from burning through money.
- Reset heating and air-conditioning timers so schedules match the new working week. There is little point sending staff home if the office is heated or cooled as if it were full.
- Switch off everyday equipment such as lights, monitors, chargers, printers and kitchen appliances. The last person out can check shared spaces.
- Don’t rely on standby mode. Equipment on standby still draws power, which adds up across a workplace. Where it is safe, switch non-essential devices off at the plug.
- Check what the office uses when it is empty. Smart meter and interval usage data can show overnight and weekend consumption. A surprisingly high figure may reveal equipment left running.
- Compare energy use before and after the change by reviewing bills and meter readings, to confirm the extra home-working day is delivering real savings.
For employees, an extra day at home also means one less commute each week. For employers, Uswitch’s analysis suggests the savings are real but modest, and they only arrive when someone takes responsibility for switching the building down.
The full methodology and Uswitch’s business energy guidance are available on the Uswitch Business Energy website.
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