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Restaurant Energy Conservation & Efficiency Tips
Develop a Restaurant Energy Conservation Plan: Reduce Restaurant Energy Costs
Restaurants have significant opportunities to manage the energy portion of their
operating budgets because they are the most energy intensive commercial
users in the market today.
PermaFrost provides this list of restaurant energy conservation tips as a guide to help you start your store's energy efficiency program. While a list of energy savings ideas for your restaurant is helpful, a PLAN is needed if you are to successfully
implement your list. Energy Star provides a step-by-step process for creating your Restaurant Energy Conservation Plan.
- Every restaurant should identify one person to drive the energy conservation and efficiency program.
- Monitor, record and post rates of restaurant energy and water use.
Make repairs or replace equipment when rate changes indicate problems.
- Use an energy management system (EMS) to tie in air handling
units, HVAC, and lighting to prevent conditioning space when it is not
necessary.
- Create an incentive program to encourage your staff to participate in and improve upon environmentally-friendly practices.
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Add PermaFrost (refrigerant additive) to all of your air conditioning
systems (including vehicles), ice machines, food-service related
cooling equipment. Patented PermaFrost has been proven to increase heat transfer, reduce compressor run time, save energy, and increase compressor life.
- Purchase "energy star" air conditioning and other restaurant appliances wherever possible.
- Install window film to lower heating and cooling loads and reduce glare in guestrooms.
- Change all HVAC and PTAC filters. This enhances the performance and efficiency of your equipment.
- Clean all PTAC and HVAC coils. This enhances the performance and efficiency of your equipment.
- Check all window and door seals: caulk and insulate where possible.
- Educate your staff to turn off lights and turn down heating/air
conditioning when kitchen, bathroom or other restaurant areas are
unoccupied.
- Use proper insulation and reflective roof coverings.
- Consult outside sources to evaluate the total system when
replacing major mechanical equipment (such as chiller, water tower,
etc). Often, this can lead to downsizing and other opportunities to
reduce both the initial investment and operating costs.
- Replace electric package terminal air conditioner (PTAC) units
with more efficient heat pumps or other geothermal technologies.
- Teach restaurant staff to conserve energy when cleaning.
- Use the thermostat factory setpoints. Leave the thermostat
settings at 76°F for heating. Each degree of heating or cooling can
cost an additional four to five percent in energy costs.
- Use the night setback feature of the thermostat. Set the
thermostat to bring your restaurant to temperature no earlier than
needed.
- Clean air conditioning and refrigeration condenser/evaporator coils every three months.
- Check the refrigerant charge and fix leaks if necessary.
- Regularly clean or replace air filters on ventilation and
heating/air conditioning equipment. Clean grease traps on ventilation
equipment.
- Check freezer and walk-in seals for cracks and warping. Replace if necessary.
- Switch to fluorescent lighting. Fluorescent lights use 1/4 to 1/3
of the energy
that standard incandescent lights use. Old four-foot, T-12 technology
fluorescent lamps and magnetic ballasts should be replaced with more
efficient electronic ballasts and T-8 lamp
technology.
- Use compact fluorescent lighting (CFL). If you use dimmable swag lamps at the
tables, consider replacing them with dimmable CFLs. While dimmable CFL lighting costs
more initially, it lasts as much as ten times longer than incandescent lighting and
is available in a variety of color temperatures to enhance the look of the table service.
- Replace exit signs with Light Emitting Diode (LED) exit signs.
- Where fluorescent lighting is impractical, convert lighting to low
wattage bulbs wherever possible. Remember that "watts" cost and lumens
measure light output.
- Install motion sensors in offices and shops (including laundry and
housekeeping). This makes sure the lights are off when no one is in the
room. Great for public restrooms also.
- Switch to high-pressure sodium or low-wattage metal halide lamps for outdoor lighting.
- Refrigerators and freezers operate most efficiently when the
refrigerator is set at 3.2°C (37°F) and the freezer is set between –18°
and –15°C (0° and 5°F).
- Allow hot food to cool before storing it in refrigerators and freezers.
- Do not overfill refrigerator shelves. Proper cooling occurs when air can circulate throughout.
- Schedule regular checks for fans, condensers and compressors.
Clean these items regularly since dirt buildup reduces efficiency.
- Ensure doors fit and close properly. Maintain door gaskets and seals in good condition.
- Ensure refrigerator compressor belts maintain proper tension.
- Defrost freezers frequently since frost buildups reduce efficiency.
- Ensure freezer curtains remain in a vertical position to retain cool air and keep out warm air.
- Oil stains near compressors may indicate leaks that should be serviced promptly.
- Establish and periodically review start-up and shut-down schedules for all major kitchen equipment, especially air-deck ovens.
- Follow manufacturers' suggestions for operating all kitchen
equipment. You can reduce energy use by scheduling pre-heating times
for ovens, grills, broilers, fryers and other equipment.
- Leave equipment off until it is needed and turn it off when it is no longer needed.
- Cover pots and pans to retain heat and decrease cooking times.
- Do not allow fans to blow directly onto any cooking surfaces and equipment.
- Use sinks full of water rather than running water for washing pots and cleaning vegetables.
- Rotary toasters consume relatively large amounts of energy. Turn off these units when not in use, and clean them regularly.
- Retrofit exhaust hoods with a two-speed blower. When the entire
grill/fryer is not being used, you may be able to lower the ventilation
rate over the appliance and reduce both make-up air and the energy
needed to condition it.
- Locate exhaust hoods on walls. Wall-mounted exhaust canopies
require lower air velocities to do the same job. Lower air velocities
mean smaller fan motors and less make-up air to heat or cool.
- Install "smart" exhaust hood controls. Most kitchens operate at
less than 25 percent capacity during the day, but the exhaust hood runs
at 100 percent capacity. These controls sense when the exhaust hood
needs to be on, based on exhaust air temperature and smoke load using a
temperature and an optical sensor.
- Add extra insulation to reduce standing heat loss in water heaters and storage tanks.
- Do not over-dry dishes. Adjust power dryers to deliver heated air just long enough to dry dishes.
- Schedule regular rinse-water checks to ensure that boosters generate the minimum required temperature.
- Regularly remove hard-water lime deposits from spray nozzles, tanks and heater coils.
- Filling dishwasher racks to capacity with each load can save $200 annually.
- Set the water heater thermostat no higher than it needs to be:
140°F for hand washing. Consider using chemical sterilizers instead of
higher water temperatures in dishwashers.
- Consider gray water heat recovery. If your dishwasher is a
continuous fill and drain, consider installing a gray water heat
recovery system. This system will recover some of the heat from the
drain water and use it to reheat the supply water to the appliance.
- Turn fryers off – or cover and reduce them to idling temperatures – during slow periods.
- Turn thermostats only as high as necessary to reach frying
temperatures. Temperatures ranging from 325°F (163°C) to 350°F (177°C)
are ideal in modern high-speed fryers. If temperatures are too high,
oil will break down. Regularly check the temperature of cooking oil
with a reliable commercial thermometer to ensure heating elements and
thermostat controls work properly.
- Regularly clean grease and food particles from exhaust hoods.
- Energy cost savings for a high efficiency gas fryer will typically range from $100-$500 per year.
- Energy cost savings for a high efficiency electric fryer will typically range from $100-$300 per year.
- Energy cost savings for a high efficiency gas griddle over a
standard efficiency model will typically range from $100-$500 per year
per 3 feet of griddle.
- During slow periods, turn off as many griddle burners as possible, and turn down other sections.
- Have your service contractor periodically check gas-griddle fuel
mixtures and adjust pilot lights to their lowest possible flames.
- The broiler is one of the most energy-intensive and inefficient
appliances in the kitchen. Do not preheat any longer than
manufacturers' instructions recommend. Heat only as many sections as
required by the cooking load.
- Eliminating 1 hour per day of broiler idle can save $200 annually.
- Turn char-broilers to medium as soon as briquettes are hot.
- Turn broiler flames to low between broiling operations. Shut them off during slow periods.
- Inspect and clean burner orifices on gas broilers.
- Have a service contractor check gas burners at least once every six months.
- Rearrange ceramic material in under-fired broilers once a month to ensure even heat.
- Check ceramic and metal surfaces for deterioration. Replace when blackened or cracked.
- Most foods can be placed in ovens during pre-heating. Only bakery goods must wait until ovens reach the correct temperature.
- Plan baking and roasting so that food requiring the same oven
temperature can be cooked simultaneously, to make optimum use of oven
capacity.
- Load ovens to capacity whenever possible, but remember to maintain
two-inch clearances around pans in standard ovens to ensure proper air
circulation. Forced-air convection ovens require less clearance.
- Maintain a baking and roasting schedule so that oven capacity is always fully utilized and operating hours reduced.
- Load and unload ovens quickly, and do not open doors
unnecessarily. Food cooks faster and loses less moisture when oven
doors are kept closed, and temperatures drop approximately 5°C (10°F)
for every second that doors are open.
- Clean interior oven walls and elements to improve heat transfer.
- Adjust door hinges, gaskets and mouldings to maintain proper fits.
- Make sure pot sizes match element sizes.
- When gas elements are set on high, flame tips should just touch the bottom of pots, pans and kettles.
- Check gas burners periodically. If flames are yellow or uneven,
clean the burner with a wire brush and make sure holes are unobstructed.
- Regularly inspect safety controls and automatic lighters.
- Check thermostats for accuracy and recalibrate, if necessary.
- Flush boilers at least once each week, following manufacturers'
instructions. Use commercial-strength cleaning chemicals occasionally,
especially if water is hard.
- Remove all deposits – such as rust, lime, film and scale – from water jackets and the outsides of containers.
- Repair all steam leaks, no matter how small.
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