How Much Energy Does An Average Gym Use?

It is important for gym owners to have an effective energy management strategy to help control their bills. One way of reducing energy usage is taking advantage of low attendance. If a gym uses less electricity, this will result in lower carbon emissions which will also help the environment.

Taking steps to save on cost and energy in your gym can help to reduce cost and can also benefit the environment. Winter is a great time to reduce cost and consumption – below we list some top tips to help you save energy needed in the gym during colder and quieter periods.

Noticing where your business can save not only helps save money, but it also helps the environment. Winter is the perfect time to look how much energy could be saved. Our experts have put together this list of how you can save on the energy produced in your gym.

1. Install Motion Sensors in Changing Rooms

Motion sensors are a great investment when trying to avoid just the energy consumption that is unnecessary. Think about how many lights and electrical equipment are wasting electivity when not being used especially in a gym. Even if the equipment has a energy efficient label on, it will still be using a lot of electricity when not being used.

Do the lights need to be on in the changing rooms when they are not being used? Installing motion sensors will ensure the lights and appliances in the room will turn on when the room is being occupied which will save a lot of wastage when the room is unoccupied. This could be especially helpful during those winter months when fewer people come to do their normal workout.

2. Only have some equipment turned on

The gym is full of equipment such as treadmills, cross trainers, rowers and much more when are often all left turned on even we not being used to workout. To save on cost and energy, do not leave machines on standby and switch them off at the wall and ask gym members to use a specific section when attendance is low.

We understand that gym members want their space when working out but for a gym business this means all the gym equipment will be turned on unnecessarily.

3. Consider changing your opening hours

We know that it is appealing for a gym business to be open 24 hours a day so they are accessible for everyone.

It would be unfair for a 24-hour gym to suddenly start closing at 6pm so this is where some in depth analysis can help. Look at previous attendance levels during winter and investigate any patterns that appear.

If you know there will be two weeks at the end of December that has a very low attendance levels, you can add to your terms and conditions that the gym can close early at off peak times. If customers are aware of this straight away, this shouldn’t cause any problems. This small change could save your gym a considerable amount on their energy cost.

4. Start exercise classes

Starting exercise classes during the winter months could save cost but how much electricity could this save? By scheduling these classes, many members will attend the class rather than the gym meaning that most the equipment can be turned off for a few hours.

By scheduling classes during these months, it also keeps attendance high during these quieter times and requires a lot less electricity than switching on everything in the gym.

5. Install efficient equipment

If there are less attendees during the winter, the need to have the air conditioning on will become less too. If members get too hot in the gym you could try opening a window if possible, rather than turning on the air conditioning. This means the needs to constantly change the temperature will lessen.

6. Adapt the changing rooms

Think about all the equipment used in changing rooms such as lighting, hair dryers, shower heads and LED mirrors, how energy efficient are these products?

By changing this equipment to more economical versions, this will save your gym on how much electricity is needed during off peak hours.

7. Turn down the music

One of the first things we notice when stepping into the gym is the loud music that is constantly playing. Many members prefer to listen to their own music and if there are only a small number of members in the gym, consider turning the music off completely.

8. Turn of the TV’s

Many fitness clubs have huge plasma TVs scattered all over the walls of the gym above all the equipment to provide entertainment to gym goers during their workout. Similarly, to not leaving equipment on standby, it is just as important to not leave the TV’s on standby. By turning the power off at the wall rather than on standby, will save your gym a lot of energy.