2023 - Rising Energy Costs For Commercial Kitchen Operators
Towards the end of 2023 has finally seen some moderate stabilities in rising energy prices. But unfortunately that doesn't always soften the blow of the adverse affects these growing costs have added to food businesses operators and its customers. Business energy costs reflect the live market of energy costs and prices can almost change weekly, unlike the price cap applied to householders.
These rising costs almost always have an adverse affect on small and medium operators. With small businesses typically using around 67% of their total gas usage on cooking equipment and typically only around 14% on electrical cooking equipment. So is now the time to balance the usage? And taking into consideration the positive affects of reducing your carbon footprint?
How can you reduce your energy costs in a commercial kitchen?
There are so many factors when it comes to reducing your restaurant or food business energy bills. But it almost always starts with getting the best rates. If you can shop around... DO! With the rates varying so sporadically over the last 12 months you may be paying more than you need to.
Another factor is waste. Owner operators will always have the thought in the back of their minds about reducing energy bills and may be more savvy when it comes to turning off equipment when not in use. However in lots of instances where we visit commercial kitchens for design, manufacture & installation we can always see a few gas burners left running. Even more so in the cold months as the fresh air system just blows in the cold air from outside.
So what can we do to reduce those costs?
Moving Entirely To Electric Cooking?
The obvious buzz word in rising energy costs is "moving to electric" after all over the last few years we have seen a huge shift in the EV car market. With the governments of the world taking a step back from burning fossil fuels and becoming dependant on imported gas. So is now the time to improve your catering equipment to electric vs gas
Pro's Of Moving To Electrical Cooking
The obvious benefits are reducing your carbon footprint. Larger operators set targets for reducing CO2 emissions and helping to improve world as larger picture. Over the 2023 period we had an influx of new enquiries of larger operators setting the trend in moving to electric catering equipment and systems. As smaller and medium operators may be sceptical about moving over without the knowledge or knowhow
The Benefits -
Reduce Carbon Footprint - Better for the environment
Reduce Energy Consumption - Less wasted energy use
The Advances In Technology - Reduced energy waste
Smart Menus & Wifi Control - Easy integration in large groups and small operators
Induction Operated - Means equipment cant be left running
Location Flexibility - Not using gas can help put commercial kitchens in areas that don't require gas interlocking.
Increased Safety - lower risk of fires and burns
Electricity costs - More stable rates than gas
Electricity costs - Typically 15-20% cheaper
Energy Efficiency - Faster pre heat and recovery times
Easier to clean and maintain - Due to smoother surfaces
Consistent Performance - Thanks to technology
Reduced Ventilation Compliance - No need for fresh air systems and gas interlocking
The Negatives -
With every positive comes a negative and making positive decision on your commercial kitchen need to be an educated one to reduce the risks of costly mistakes. So we put together some of the negatives with moving from gas to electrical catering equipment.
Mains Supply - Electrical catering equipment uses lots of rated power and some smaller operators may not have a sufficient electrical supply to their property
Capital Costs - as expected the outright costs of new catering equipment can be expensive - but with low monthly finance options available we can soften that blow
Crockery, pans & utensils - Sometimes swapping over isn't as simple as just swapping equipment. Consider the general equipment you need to make the shift
Servicing costs - catering equipment spares aren't usually cheap so make sure to look after your equipment
Staff Training - making the shift isn't just straight forward, make sure you get the right training. All our new equipment comes with training handovers from reputable brands
Heat Recovery Systems
Using specialist heat recovery systems you may be able to move from gas hot water systems to recovered hot water systems. Taking the heat from your commercial kitchen and turning into stored hot water. We will tell you more about this in our next blog post
But for now, we hope you learned more about moving your catering equipment from gas to electric.
If you need any more support please contact us for more details
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