The Benefits of an Energy Management Plan in Restaurants

When you own or manage a restaurant, you know that cost savings are critical to ensuring your restaurant is able to run smoothly.

In many cases, you may resort to extreme measures in order to cut costs where you can.

Clearly, this is about more than just the dreaded thermostat wars that can take place in any working environment. For these owners, keeping the restaurant set at a specific temperature is one of the methods used to keep energy costs low.

If your goal is to save energy costs throughout your restaurant, an energy management plan is one of the best approaches to reducing energy use and lowering your monthly energy bill.

You see, by utilizing an energy management plan, you’ll discover a number of key benefits–like being able to stop obsessing over the temperature on the thermostat and enjoy running your restaurant.

So here are a few ways to develop an energy management plan for your restaurant.

Conduct an Energy Audit

The first step of your energy management plan is understanding where your energy is actually being used. Throughout your restaurant, there are plenty of devices that use electricity.

An audit will help you discover how you can use them as efficiently as possible. You can conduct an energy audit yourself or hire a restaurant energy consultant in order to get the most effective results possible.

Either way, your energy audit will identify potential energy vampires that are using energy even when you think the device is turned off.

It will also keep an eye on the biggest energy uses throughout your restaurant and help uncover new ways to improve your energy use.

Invest Effectively

You’re ready to invest in energy-efficient devices throughout your restaurant, but where do you start?

Will a smart thermostat, which will reduce energy use when no one is in the building, be a reasonable investment? Or should you start by investing in more efficient ovens?

By working with a restaurant energy consultant, you won’t have to guess what step you should take next. Instead, you’ll have it clearly laid out so you can make the best possible decisions for your restaurant each time you’re ready to make an investment.

Check Your Data

Your energy management plan should include regular review of your energy use data.

How much energy are you using each month? Is it in keeping with your budget and expectations for energy use, or is there something draining more energy than anticipated?

By keeping a close eye on your data, you can identify potential problems before they wreck your budget and drag down your restaurant.

Train Your Employees

Knowing all the most effective ways to save energy for your restaurant is a good start. However, if they aren’t put into practice by the employees who are there every day, you’ll never see the results in your bill.

Your energy management plan includes training employees to understand how to be proactive in saving energy throughout their everyday job tasks.

This also includes the energy-saving measures you want to implement across your restaurant.

Whether that means understanding where the thermostat really needs to be set or developing a better system for using your appliances during the busiest parts of your day, your employees will emerge from training better prepared to take the appropriate measures to keep your energy bill low.

Develop a Working Energy Management Plan 

Your energy use is a critical part of managing your restaurant. If you’re ready to implement a strong energy management plan for your restaurant, perhaps contacting an Energy Management Consultant would be beneficial. Outside consultants have the ability to work with you on identifying potential problems, shape your energy investments, train your employees, and monitor energy use to ensure your restaurant is efficient.  

So, don’t rely on a message on your thermostat! Instead, discover more about how you can transform your restaurant’s energy use once and for all.