Keep A Cool Overhead – 6 Ways To Reduce Refrigeration Costs

Now that we have comprehensively covered how storage can best be practiced in your business, we are continuing our series of small changes that make a big difference by looking at overheads. 

We’ll start with a big one: energy, especially in refrigeration.

Restaurants use about 2.5 times more energy per square foot than any other type of commercial building. It’s not only the cooking equipment that’s to blame. Heating, cooling, lighting and sanitation each account for major portions of the average restaurant’s electricity consumption.

On the other hand, all that energy use means there’s a lot of room to start saving.

This is another area where small changes in everyday practices can make a significant difference to your bottom line. Every pound or euro saved through energy efficiency is an extra pound or euro in profit and even modest improvements to efficiency can lead to major leaps in overall profits.

6 Ways To Save On Refrigeration Costs

Here are a few changes you might consider making to the way you manage your fridges and freezers.

1. In the European Union, refrigerating appliances are labelled on an energy efficiency scale ranging from A+++ (most efficient) to G (least efficient). It really pays to invest in the most energy-efficient appliances as they have the lowest running costs.
2. Turn off the grab-and-go fridges in the evening, on Sundays or whenever you are closed. You can leave the cordials in the fridge as they only take an average of 45 minutes each to get back down to the required temperature after the fridge has been turned back on. So, transfer all cordials to another fridge first and then turn off the grab-and-go fridges.
3. Install a curtain on your walk-in fridges and freezers to keep in cool air. Remember, always make sure that pulled in between service.
   
4. Don’t overload your fridges or freezers, to allow air to circulate.
5. Carry out regular maintenance. Check and replace damaged door seals on refrigerator and freezer doors. If you can pass a banknote through the door’s seals, it is high time to replace them. 
6. Locate the refrigeration equipment away from sources of heat, such as ovens and grills. Also, ensure that your stoves, hot plates, microwaves and ovens are located far away from coolers and air-conditioning vents.

In our next post, we will look at how to save on the energy consumption of ovens and fryers.