Some chain restaurants have started using comprehensive, fully automated energy management systems (EMS) to help reduce energy usage in their restaurants.  Energy management systems have been around for a couple decades, but recent technological advances have really improved what an EMS can do, including controlling air conditioning, hood exhaust fans, and equipment power-ups automatically.

Why is that good?  Imagine an employee decides it’s too hot and drops the thermostat to 50 and leaves it that way overnight or idle cooking equipment getting well ventilated by a hood fan on full blast.  How about the morning shift manager arriving a little late and cranking up the lights and equipment all at the same time during peak usage hours?

Little things can turn into big energy expenses, especially when you can’t be there to manage how energy is used all the time.  The energy savings alone from having an automatic thermostat that drops the heat in winter and the cool in summer during off-business hours is significant.

An EMS goes much further.  An alarm will sound if the door to the walk-in has been left open for more than 10 minutes.  Employees walk into work in the morning with the lights already on and the equipment powered up and ready to go.  These increased efficiencies not only reduce the headache factor, they can translate into some real savings.

Granted, most independent restaurateurs probably can’t afford a comprehensive EMS yet.  But as the technology gets cheaper and energy expenses continue their inevitable rise, the day may not be far off when it makes sense for even the smallest operators to have a comprehensive, automated system managing their energy consumption.

In the meantime, why not set up your own energy management system?  It may not have all the same cool computer-powered features of a modern EMS, but it can be just as effective.

1. Set guidelines for your staff on how to power up equipment and turn on lights in sequence when opening your restaurant.  You don’t want everything to power up at once because this creates a spike in your electricity draw on the grid, and this usually means the utility company will charge you more per kilowatt hour during the spike.
2. Train kitchen staff to dial back cooking equipment during downtime and cut back the hood exhaust whenever they’re not cooking.
3. Set guidelines for minimizing energy usage, including closing refrigerator doors, turning off unnecessary lights, reducing hot water use, and only running full racks through the dishwasher.  Hand out rewards to employees who stand out for their energy efficient practices.
4. Most importantly, buy an Energy Star rated automatic thermostat!  It’s much less expensive than a fancy EMS, and accomplishes the same goal: automatically adjusting the thermostat during non-business hours.