8 Ways to Power Savings in Your Kitchen

Are you cooking up too much energy in your commercial kitchen? Although electric appliances are generally very efficient, the following measures can help you power down your energy bills:

1.    Upgrade cooking equipment. ENERGY STAR®-certified cooking equipment is more efficient than standard models without sacrificing quality and performance.

2.    Switch to electric fryers and griddles. Under part-load operation, electric fryers and griddles have proven more energy efficient than gas equipment. Under idle conditions, the energy consumed by a gas unit may exceed that of an electric unit by a factor of three or more.

3.    Add insulation or upgrade insulation for electric units. Improved compartment insulation on steamers and kettles reduces heat loss to the kitchen and standby energy consumption.

4.    Incorporate demand control ventilation (DCV), which modulates the range hood and makeup air fan speeds using infrared or optical sensors and variable speed motors. At one restaurant, installing DCV saved more than $4,500 in annual operating costs.

5.    Use energy-efficient exhaust hoods that use outside air rather than inside-conditioned air for ventilation.

6.    Add side curtains around cooking equipment to help restrict the flow of conditioned air to the outside.

7.    Operate ice machines on an integrated time clock so they don't operate during the peak utility rate period. ENERGY STAR ice makers are, on average, 10% to 16% more energy efficient than standard units.

8.    Choose refrigeration equipment with solid doors; evaporator and condenser fans with electronically commutated (EC) motors; and high-efficiency compressors. ENERGY STAR-qualified units are 20% more efficient than standard refrigerators and freezers.

KC's Sports Bar installed six energy-efficient appliances (under-fired broiler, fryer, ice machine, reach-in refrigerator, reach-in freezer and a DCV system), saving more than $4,000 in annual energy costs. The DCV system saved about $1,200 alone.

Another restaurant is saving nearly $1,000 per year after installing dual-speed EC motors with controllers and strip curtains on the walk-in freezer.

For more cost-saving tips and resources, see ENERGY STAR for Small Business: Restaurants.