Ask your caretaker or building manager or members of your eco-team to turn off water chillers and hot drink boilers at the end of each school day, at weekends and holidays. Sometimes it is best to organise this via a formal written list of tasks that your building manager carries out on a daily basis or at the start of a holiday or weekend.

Depending on the type of water chiller or hot drink boiler, you may need to carry out a procedure at the end of each holiday to remove any built-up bacteria if the units have not been in use for a period. If you are uncertain what to do, consult the appliance manufacturer or your Health and Safety consultant.

If you are buying new appliances, direct-type appliances which do not have reservoirs are often a better buy as they do not waste energy storing water at high or low temperatures.