Install motion sensors for some electrics

Lights in community buildings are frequently left on by accident. In toilets, the light and extractor fan might be controlled by the same switch. If this is the case, leaving the light on will mean the added electricity required to run the fan plus additional heat loss.

Some lights and fans have motion sensing built in. For others, you can have an electrician add a separate motion sensor.

Whether this action will “pay back”, both in terms of cost and the “embodied carbon” required to create the motion sensor, depends on how much electricity the motion sensor will command and how often it used to be left on. Usually passive infrared (PIR) sensors are used. They can sense movement up to 30 feet away, so can be used in relatively large rooms, and don’t take much power to run.