In response to some specific questions: How do you figure the extra expenses of using your home as an office: Power for computer use all day, air conditioning in summer, and heating in winter?
What is the cost/saving to you of working from home?
- You save on travel time, petrol cost, and wear and tear on your car (presuming you were driving to work
- You also save time by matching your work hours to the timezones you need to connect with.
But what of the costs - lighting, heating, electricity for equipment.
I have been working from home, full-time, for the past 2 years and part-time before that.
We looked at our home electricity bills this weekend and they are still lower than the expected usage for our house and family size. So I am not concerned that working from home increases our electricity bills significantly. The only additional equipment I have because I am working at home are a 19inch computer screen, increased computer usage, and increased usage of lighting.
Around the same time as I started working from home, we became much more conscious of our carbon foot print so I always turn off my screen if I am not using it, only have lights on in rooms in use at the time, and have energy saving bulbs.
There is no cost for air conditioning because I am in Europe and we don't do air conditioning so much over here. In fact that is one of the reasons I wanted to work from home; there is air conditioning in the company offices due to the large number of computers and I find it difficult to have to handle the change in temperature. I love the heat in the summer (25-35+ degrees Celsius) but am not so keen on the cold.
Which brings me the cost of heating. Again, in our drive to reduce our carbon footprint, we had decided to use wood as much as possible. Our house has oil central heating fitted. In addition we have a large wood burning fire which just happens to be in my office. So I heat my office with the wood burning fire. The oil heating is triggered if the temperature goes to low but in fact our oil consumption is lower than when I used to go into the office because heating part of the house by the wood burning reduces the number of hours the oil is used to heat the house.
So to sum up - compared to when I used to work in the company office, I do not think we pay significantly more for electricity, our heating bill has gone down, my car costs have gone down.
My home insurance covers my office equipment.
If you are working across timezones and doing conference calls, you need to ensure that you have a reasonable phone option.
Have you calculated any extra cost for your home office room? I guess you have dedicated room for that.
Posted by Petteri on July 08, 2008 at 01:50 AM PDT #
Out here in California, the AC costs alone would eat a lot of your savings in the summer. The AC generally costs $1-$5 an hour to run. In many parts of California, you will *need* to be run for at least half the day (longer depending on the area and your preferences). Heating costs are much cheaper. Running the computer, etc is fairly inexpensive out here.
The biggest expense for my home office was getting good quality furniture. Ergonomic equipment is not cheap and furniture companies won't cut deals for home offices. Plus, some employers won't pay for computer equipment related to telecommuting..
Though, I'm curious what is the actual carbon footprint for wood burning and how it comapres to heating oil (or natural gas, as is common in California). Standard fireplaces are very inefficient compared to some other heating systems. By burning the wood, you release all of the carbon captured by that tree so you've negated the positive carbon impact of that tree.
The effects of particulate matter and other emissions from fireplaces have a very real, measurable impact on air quality and human health. It's a significant source of pollution and health problems in California, enough that many areas are putting restrictions on wood-burning.
Posted by James on July 08, 2008 at 09:38 AM PDT #
It is true that wood burning is not perfect but at least it is a renewable resource. And if cost matters - it is much cheaper than oil and was even before the recent hike in oil prices.
We have a closed in fire place/unit that seems to be really efficient burner and so heats the place well.
Air-con is a real bone of contention for me because I think people are addicted to it, so much so that you have to put on a jacket to go into some buildings and it is a big energy consumer. Saying that I do realise that some homes can really heat up once the temperature goes over 25 celsius. Luckily our house is built to keep the temperature down (wide roof) and we get storms many evenings which we use to reduce the temperature in the house.
We all make efforts to cut energy use in different ways - and that means personal choices.
Posted by Antoinette O'Sullivan on July 08, 2008 at 10:02 AM PDT #
I'll agree with you on the A/C--it's overused. The interior temperature in my employer's office is 68F (20C) which is completely unecessary. Many of my friends keep their homes exceedingly cold, and then put on warm clothes to stay comfortable. Unfortunately, the outdoor temperatures here reguarly reach 35C+, and 40C+ is becoming quite common. I'm not even in the desert. Some A/C (definately less than most people want to use) is a necessary to stay productive, even in energy efficient homes.
Wired ran an interesting article on environmentalism and some of the bad-data used to justify policies. One thing they claimed was running the A/C has a lower carbon footprint than heating. Another claim was living in higher-density urban environments has a lower impact than living in a SFH in the suburbs, in terms of efficiency to cool/heat.
Posted by James on July 08, 2008 at 11:34 AM PDT #
You're one lucky French gal, Antoinette!
Sure the AC costs are a real bummer especially in Manila but the real challenge for me is keeping the lines between family time and work. It doesn't help that I've got a whirl of a kid buzzing around the house leaving a trail of wreck (or strands of her hair just 2 nights ago).
Still, better I get to see her while I still am alive. I think I lost a decade of my lifespan using my left hand to keep her at bay while typing on the mac with my right. (Not to mention the cross-eye I've since acquired to monitor all things).
You got to love working from home. What's not to like?
Best.
alain
mor.ph
Posted by friarminor on July 15, 2008 at 06:11 PM PDT #