The restaurant business can be extremely chaotic at times. So many things can affect your business that energy consumption is not usually at the top of the list. It should be, though, because there are so many things that can be done to decrease the amount you use that it is silly not to do them. It will not only save you a substantial amount of money on your power bill, but it will also reduce the size of the footprint you leave on the surrounding environment.
With that in mind, let’s look at the top 10 energy conservation tips for restaurants so you can decide what you need to do to get your energy usage, and bill, down. Before you begin, it may be worthwhile to conduct an energy audit to figure out where your problem areas are. You can do this independently or hire a professional to isolate everything.
- Lighting – The old-style fluorescent bulbs may be cheap to replace, but they do not last as long and are not designed to be energy efficient. Switch them all out for LEDs, and install smart light switches that turn off the lights when they are not needed. Outside and security lights should be designed to use solar power so they do not draw on any power when used.
- Temperature – Keeping the restaurant’s temperature at a comfortable level is imperative to keep customers coming in. However, if you turn the thermostat down one or two degrees, the inside temperature will still be OK, and the power bill will go down.
- Water – A restaurant can use a substantial amount of water throughout the day. Hence, it is important to install low-flow nozzles, automatic shut-offs on hand-washing sinks, and turn them off if you don’t need to have the water running.
- Routine Maintenance – Routine Maintenance is necessary to increase the life of all your equipment and to prevent them from drawing more power than needed. Plus, a leading cause of fire within a restaurant has to do with faulty equipment sparking or shooting currents into the walls and floor.
- Compare Energy Suppliers – Not all energy suppliers will charge you the same. Go to an online comparison site like iSelect and find the best electricity company in QLD. Keep in mind that the cheapest offer may not be the best, so research the entire contract before signing.
- Refrigeration – About a third of your utility bills are due to the refrigeration units you use to keep the food fresh. Check the seals regularly, and make sure the doors are shut at all times.
- Placement – Optimize the way that all your equipment is placed. For example, suppose your refrigeration units in which you store immediate stock are not close enough to the fryer. In that case, leaving the doors open while grapping and transporting is easy but bad. Think ahead when setting things up to make them more user-friendly and energy efficient.
- Shut Down Unused Equipment – When closing the restaurant for the night, turn everything off that does not to be on. Most of the equipment can be shut down to save on energy.
- Energy Efficient Equipment – When purchasing equipment, spend the time and extra money to upgrade to equipment meant to conserve power usage. It may cost a little more now but will pay for itself through energy savings.
- Train Your Staff – It does no good to get yourself into good habits if your staff does not follow them. Teach them how to conserve energy and why it needs to be done. Bring it up in your weekly meetings to make sure it is fresh in their minds.
Conserving energy is something that all restaurants should keep at the forefront because it is essential to cut costs in every way possible. The less you pay out on utilities such as power, the more your profit margins will be. Which is, of course, why you are in business in the first place. Complete the easy steps above, change anything else you think will lower your usage, and see the difference on your next power bill.
