SMART IDEAS FOR YOUR BUSINESS
®
FOOD SERVICE
FACT SHEET
The average commercial or institutional kitchen operation
uses more than twice the energy of other commercial
buildings. However, as much as 80 percent of this energy
is wasted on heat and noise generated by inefficient
appliances, HVAC systems, lighting and refrigeration.
The good news is that there are many opportunities for
energy savings in almost any food service operation,
whether it’s an elegant restaurant, the company
cafeteria, or somewhere in between. And there’s more
good news: ComEd’s Smart Ideas for Your Business®
program offers incentives for kitchen equipment in the
following categories to help you get cooking on your
energy-efficiency plans.
ELECTRIC STEAM COOKER
With better insulation and a more efficient steam
delivery system, ENERGY STAR® steam cookers offer
shorter cooking times, higher production rates and
reduced heat loss. What’s more, the steam cooker will
save water, using an average of three gallons of water
per hour versus 40 gallons of water per hour for
standard models.
COMBINATION OVEN
A combination oven combines the functions of hot air
convection (oven mode) and saturated/superheated steam
heating (steam mode) to perform steaming, baking, roasting,
rethermalizing and proofing of various food products. An
efficient electric ENERGY STAR combination oven will use
about half the energy and water of an inefficient model.
HOT FOOD HOLDING CABINET
Hot food holding cabinet models that earn the ENERGY
STAR label typically are better insulated, so they keep
the food—not the kitchen—hot. Better insulation also
means better temperature uniformity inside the cabinet
from top to bottom. According to the EPA, an ENERGY
STAR qualified hot food holding cabinet can save
approximately 3,200 to 9,300 kWh annually.
ComEd.com/BizIncentives
HEAT PUMP WATER HEATER (ELECTRIC ONLY)
A heat pump water heater takes the heat from
surrounding air and transfers it to water in an enclosed
tank, much like a refrigerator in reverse. High-efficiency
heat pump water heaters are more than twice as efficient
as standard electric models, so water heating costs can
drop by half.
ANTI-SWEAT HEATER CONTROLS
When warm, humid air from a store’s interior meets the
cold surface of a refrigerated display case, condensation
can build up on door gaskets and create fogging and
“sweating” on doors. To prevent sweating, the
refrigerated display case doors and frames are heated.
Some 80 percent of stores run their anti-sweat heaters
24 hours a day, 365 days a year, even though they only
need to run continuously when a store’s relative humidity
reaches 55 percent.
One of the simplest ways to reduce energy costs is to
install relatively inexpensive humidity-sensing controls
for the anti-sweat heaters to ensure that they are used
only when necessary. With an incentive from ComEd’s
Smart Ideas for Your Business, anti-sweat heater controls
are likely to pay for themselves in a year or less.
DEMAND VENTILATION CONTROLS
Demand-based exhaust controls retrofitted to existing
hoods or installed on new hoods can reduce a fan’s
energy consumption by 30 to 50 percent. The systems
employ microprocessor-based controls that interact with
temperature sensors in the hood exhaust collar, optic
sensors that detect the presence of smoke or cooking
and variable speed drives (VSDs) that regulate fan
speed based on cooking load, time of day, kitchen
comfort and indoor air quality. Because air from
heating and air-conditioning systems is lost through
kitchen hoods, HVAC system energy consumption also
can also drop by 20 to 30 percent.
ELECTRONICALLY COMMUTATED EVAPORATOR FAN MOTORS
Virtually all coolers and freezers use forced-circulation
evaporators with propeller fans powered by fractionalhorsepower motors—typically inefficient, shaded-pole
motors. Replacing a shaded-pole motor with an
electronically commutated motor (ECM), now
mandated in new walk-in refrigeration units, lowers
energy costs and significantly improves walk-in cooler
or freezer performance.
An ECM delivers the same power as a comparable
shaded-pole motor while consuming only one-third the
energy. Since a typical grocery store, for example, might
have hundreds of these motors, an upgrade can produce
energy savings so substantial that break-even for the
motor retrofit is often less than two years. Payback can
occur more quickly with a Smart Ideas incentive for
replacing an existing shaded-pole evaporator fan motor in
a refrigerated display case or walk-in with an ECM.
Smart Ideas® is funded by ComEd customers in compliance with Illinois Public act 95-0481.
© Commonwealth Edison Company, 2012
ENERGY STAR REFRIGERATION EQUIPMENT
ENERGY STAR commercial freezers are more energyefficient because the energy savings are built in.
Components like ECM evaporator and condenser fan
motors, hot gas anti-sweat heaters and high-efficiency
compressors will significantly reduce your facility’s
energy consumption and utility bills. Energy savings over
standard freezers can be as much as 35 percent, and an
ENERGY STAR freezer can pay for itself in less than two
years. An incentive from ComEd’s Smart Ideas for Your
Business makes that payback even faster.
Smart Ideas also offers incentives for new or replacement
ENERGY STAR commercial ice machines with an ice
production rate of 100 or more pounds per day. ENERGY
STAR commercial ice machines are, on average, 15
percent more energy-efficient and 10 percent more
water-efficient than standard models. Each ENERGY
STAR ice machine can save about 1,160 kWh annually.
CONTACT US
For more information about Smart Ideas for Your
Business, including applications and incentive amounts,
visit www.ComEd.com/BizIncentives. You can also
reach us by phone at 888-806-2273 or email us at
[email protected].