Home workers use half the power of their office bound colleagues

The in-depth study was conducted by Sun Microsystems on a selection of its own employees, who were equipped with a kilowatt-hour monitor that measures electricity consumption.

Participants averaged a power consumption of 64W per hour at home, compared with 130W per hour at their office. So much more power is used in the office than people often realise, air conditioning needs to be powered, lights are on during the working day – not just in the office, but also in kitchens, toilets and store cupboards.

The results suggest that cutting down commuting by 2 ½ days per week could reduce an employee's energy consumption by the equivalent of 5,400Kwh a year. The survey also revealed that commuting accounted for more than 98% of a worker’s carbon footprint.