BC Cancer is saving energy from blanket warmers
Health-care facilities are energy-intensive environments, but small changes can have a big impact on energy savings. BC Cancer’s Blanket Warmer Initiative is proving that sustainability and patient comfort can go hand in hand. By turning off blanket warmers when not in use, the initiative is cutting energy waste while ensuring warm blankets remain available for patient care. The results? A targeted 25% reduction in energy use for 13 blanket warmers and estimated annual savings of over $14,000.
Energy Savings Without Compromising Care
Blanket warmers are essential for preventing hypothermia in patients, but they also consume significant electricity—often left on 24/7. This initiative, led by PHSA’s Energy & Emissions team, identifies warmers that can be switched off during non-operational hours and installs automatic timers to regulate usage. The timers were in the following quantities and locations:
- 1 timer in Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), 1st floor
- 1 timer in Positron Emission Tomography (PET), 1st floor
- 5 timers in Radiation Therapy (RT), 2nd floor
- 3 timers in Medical Imaging (MI), 3rd floor
- 3 timers in Outpatient Unit (OU), 6th floor
With BC Cancer piloting the approach, the goal is to expand it to other clinical settings. Turning off a single blanket warmer for eight hours each night over a year saves enough electricity to power a typical BC household for 14 months. Multiply that across multiple machines, and the savings are substantial.
Sustainability in Action
More than just an energy-saving effort, the initiative engages frontline staff in planetary health—encouraging them to rethink resource use in daily clinical practices. Dr. Maura Brown, co-chair of the BC Cancer Planetary Health Unit, highlights the initiative’s collaborative impact:
The Blanket Warmer Initiative is a great example of a sustainable quality improvement initiative where clinical staff input and expertise from the Energy and Environmental Sustainability team combine to save energy and money, without adverse impacts on patient care. Although the savings per unit are small, this project has potential for large impact at scale across the health-care system.”
Scaling Up for a Greener Future
As more clinical teams join the effort, the initiative demonstrates how simple operational changes can align with health care sustainability goals. The savings in energy use and costs are for 13 blanket warmers, and applied more widely could lead to even more substantial savings.
By reducing unnecessary energy consumption, BC Cancer is leading by example—showing that sustainability doesn’t have to come at the cost of quality care. Instead, it’s about thoughtful innovation that benefits patients, staff, and the planet.
