How to Save On Restaurant Electricity Bills: Energy Conservation Tips

As a restaurant owner, you’re probably aware of the investments and expenses necessary to run your business successfully. 

Once you get that kitchen running, there are many financial factors that you must consider, such as ingredients, rent, facilities, utilities, and most critically – Energy.

In fact, recently, Australian wholesale prices in the national electricity market averaged up to $264/MWh, and energy and gas costs continue to rise, leaving cafes, restaurants, pubs, and food suppliers feeling financially constrained.

Controlling your restaurant’s energy consumption means controlling the expenses, and controlling the expenses is pivotal if you want to turn all your efforts into higher profits.

So, without further ado, learn how you can save on electricity bills while conserving valuable energy to produce optimal kitchen output.

Use the Latest High-Efficiency Equipment

The kind of equipment you purchase contributes significantly to how much energy your restaurant consumes. All of our brands and commercial kitchen equipment technologies use a fraction of an energy that can save you thousands of dollars per month on electricity alone.

For example, upgrading to one of our Pitco energy-efficient fryers will help you save money on the energy bill, experience less over-burned food, and extend the life of the cooking oil. Moreover, an Eswood high-efficiency dishwasher can save you thousands of dollars per year compared to a standard model that seems more affordable at the start.

Maintain Your High-Efficiency Equipment

If you don’t maintain your commercial cooking equipment in mint and operational shape, you are probably spending more energy than necessary already.

However, there are several preventive tasks that you can take to improve energy savings while extending the equipment’s lifespan at the same time:  

• Clean gaskets and lubricate hinges.
• Check refrigerant level.
• Check and adjust defrost timers.
• Check electrical connections.
• Inspect suction line insulation.
• Calibrate thermometers.

Decrease The Heat Usage

More heat means spending more electricity. This is why you should always look for ways to reduce the amount of heat that your restaurant uses on the regular, including frequent checks on hot water usage, whether the cooking equipment is always working with the most optimal heat settings for the menu selections, as well as how employees use the facility’s thermostats.

Create an Efficient Kitchen Layout

How your kitchen is designed can directly influence how much energy your restaurant spends. For example, if your oven is right next to an ice-making machine, the hot temperature won’t help the ice machine work efficiently at all.

Or, if your refrigeration unit is set firmly to the wall of your kitchen, without the proper room for ventilation around the unit, it will use far more energy to keep the ingredients cooler.

Educate Your Staff to Save Energy

Even with the most energy-efficient equipment in the world, saving money on your electricity bill depends mostly on your kitchen staff. This is why educating them on the energy saving guidelines is critical.

Make sure to introduce an energy-saving protocol for all of your employees and train them to start saving energy on every occasion, while reminding them to also provide impeccable experience to the customers.  

Over to You

Your restaurant must be effectively optimised to deliver smooth experiences with optimal usage of resources to the servings and guest management processes. Having the right equipment remains the critical energy-efficiency factor.

Ensure an energy-efficient kitchen with Middleby’s cooking technology that helps you save thousands of dollars per year! Contact us and speak with a team of professionals at Middleby Australia today.