Why do High Street shops waste so much heating energy?

Question

We should all "do our bit" to save the planet. But it's somewhat discouraging to be told to switch off lights, change bulbs, turn down thermostats etc. and then we see High Street shops with their doors wide open all winter whatever the weather. Many of these have expensive hot-air curtains running too! What's more, we pay for that wasted electricity in the price of goods.

Should we boycott those shops or at least keep mentioning it to their managers at each visit?

Am I alone thinking this? How about it people, let's start a campaign.

Answer 1

Mostly I agree.   But hot air curtains actually save money!!

You do not HAVE to shop so much.

Answer 2

They waste so much energy because it is you not them that pays the bill.

Mentioning it will not have any positive outcome and you would have to boycott EVERY supermarket and that isn't a realistic expectation for the majority of the population.

Answer 3

I used to be active in Friends of the Earth and we once ran a local campaign to do this.  I don't know how successful it was but long term it clearly failed as today it is still happening in the city centre here.  I think it's partly related to people overheating their houses and expecting shops to be as warm, partly related to people walking around half-naked in the middle of winter for some odd reason and partly because shops believe it makes their business feel more welcoming.  In fact, even my local church does it.  They themselves spend money on the heating as well.

There's probably some minimum legal level for temperatures in workplaces that's ridiculously high.  However, i will think about talking to FoE again, as it's a good point.

Answer 4

agree with Allen B, Yes they waste so much with lighting and heating. I understand you and feel the same.

Answer 5

Possibley even worse than that is open display fridges and freezers found in shops and supermarkets, what a waste!

Answer 6

some shops dont keep the door open but 2 many ligts on in the middle of summer wen the sun gives in most of the light whats he point of puttin all the lights on

Answer 7

I work in a store where we purposely keep the door closed to save energy, and customers leave it open, which is annoying if not despairing to watch.

We are one of a few major brands that do keep our door closed. There is a little more on a blog post I wrote about this, with a link to a similar article in the Times last year.

http://howtosaveenergy.blogspot.com/2007...

Feel free to name and shame some on my blog.

Closing doors seemingly has no affect as shop assistants rush to open them to comply with policies, so they don't get fired or lose potentially big bonuses.

I also do mystery shops for a big UK mystery shop organisation Retail Eyes, and one of the questions on most questionnaires is, was the shop doors open?

I have seen in my own company that with a door shut it can lead to people walking away thinking we are closed, even after failing to open the open closed door if that makes sense. This is what companies fear, and the cost of lost sales far outweighs the cost of the overheads. This is the sad reality that these companies live in, and because their competitors doors are open, they leave theirs open.

The energy wasted in a store the size of the body shop (very small) is enough to power an average sized house. And its no suprise  retailers electricity consumption per m2 is one of the highest from all industry.

I think we need to have a shut the door campaign, and send people out to shut doors up and down the country as they shop. The retailers will be too busy to open them again.

Energy Saver

http://howtosaveenergy.blogspot.com

Answer 8

It has been said - hot air curtains save energy overall. Shutting the door of a shop is often impractical because of the number of people going in and out so the air curtain is used as a barrier to prevent excessive heat loss from a shop.

Shops do use way to much power it is true - if only people would spend as much when the lighting doesn't make products look as appealing and they are not as warm

Answer 9

IT IS not just on heating that they waste money,

the way they have lights on at night like there is no tomorrow.

Answer 10

Hear, hear!!!

Answer 11

They expend that energy for competitive purposes.  If they don't make their shops eye catching and comfortable, their customers will go to the competition.

Its an example of how "doing your bit" isn't going to help save the planet.  And in the first place, the planet is not in danger to begin with, so lighten up and enjoy the fact that you have a 1500cc brain like most homo sapiens and know how to use modify natural resources to stay comfortable.