Case Study – Revolution Bar
Subject Areas: Water, Waste, Refrigeration, Lighting, Kitchen Equipment, Housekeeping
Sector: Hospitality & Leisure
Background
Revolution Bar is a bar business that also serves food. It was extended and renovated in June 2009. During that time we looked at the performance of lighting, water usage, equipment performance & waste segregation.
Firstly we looked at Electricity & Gas – always look at your bills and the price you are paying. You can save up to 14% by just changing supplier! For me that was nearly €4,000 a year.
Lighting
We installed 170 ecoled LED fittings with a saving of up to 80% over traditional down lighters
Our initial lighting bill with down lighters alone was nearly €5,000 per year
Our new LED system cost €4,000 per year less to run
We spent €20,000 on the installation of new LED fittings
We also looked at LED because the “bulb” will last up to 8 years –
We were replacing standard bulbs at a rate of 2 per fitting per year
At €3.50 per bulb, that’s a saving of €9,520 – and also saving the environment from disposing of the bulbs
All energy saving fittings listed with Sustainable Energy Ireland allows companies to write off 100% of the purchase value of qualifying energy efficient equipment against their profit in the year of purchase.
Lighting is controlled by a “Sunlite Stick”
Peter Fitzgerald of Cross Lane Digital programmed “The Stick” for us – we now have no light switches anywhere – all our lighting is programmed to come on at 9am in Cleaning Mode.
At opening time lights adjust themselves to a nice ambient light – they dim at 7pm for night time mode – and turn themselves off at closing time.
We don’t even think about lighting control anymore – its automatic
Coupled with this – we always had lights left on in Staff Rooms, Stores, Cold Rooms, Corridors –
These are now controlled by PIR with means the lights are only on when there is someone in the room.
Equipment
We had 3 x 5year old glass washers, starting to give a little maintenance trouble
We looked at buying top of the range Winterhalter Glasswashers
The new machines operate with 60% less water – so 60% less electricity to keep the water hot
Our new machines cost €2,600 each and we are looking at a payback in savings of 2-3 years
We had 2 x 10 grid combi ovens which we usually less than ½ full when in use –
We traded these in for 2 x 6 grid ovens with a 30% saving in running costs
We used traditional 3kw Panini toasters for sandwiches & Panini products –
This was operational 14 hours a day –
We now use a merry chef oven – which is more versatile but uses 40% less power
Because the door is closed when not in use and uses very little power
Water
Water in toilets was 55% of our usage. This was out main focus.
During renovation we replaced 14 toilet cisterns– traditionally of 8-10 litre capacity per cistern
On advise from PJ Mullane Plumbing supplies, he sourced us a 6 litre cistern saving up to 4 litres per flush
- Bar with 14 Toilets each with a 10litre flush
- Average use per day Sunday–Thursday is 10 x 14 flushes = 140
- Average use per day Friday–Saturday is 50 x 14 flushes = 700
- Total Flushes = 840 per week = 43,680 flushes per year x 10 litres =436,800 litres of Water
- By installing new cisterns (or using buffalos for displacement) we saved 174,720 Litres of Water !
- This equals 174 cublic metres a year x €2.35 = €408
Liam Power Electrical advised we put a PIR sensor on our Urinals which we flushing 15 litres of Water every 15 minutes, 24 hours a day – we reduced our Water bill on 2 urinals by approx 70%
2 x Urinal x 15 litres x 4 flushes per hour x 24 hours per day = 1051 cubic metres per year
New PIR system installed at cost of €350 saved 657 cubic metres @ €2.35 =a saving of €1544 per year
Total savings in Toilets alone was nearly €2,000 per year
Added to that we put push button taps in all bars, kitchen, wash-up and toilets – so taps cannot be left on
New Glasswasher x 3 which use less than ½ the water of our 5 year old ones
We also monitor leaks from cisterns – daily
SAVING TOTAL FOR WATER PER YEAR IS APPROX €3,000
Housekeeping in the Kitchen
In the kitchen – cooking and preparation is a significant energy user. Good Housekeeping can reduce this by up to 25%.
We worked with our chefs, making them aware of the running cost of each piece of equipment.
We agreed that we will not turn on all equipment in the kitchen on arrival in the morning
Some equipment only need 10 mins to heat up – so only turn them on 15 mins prior to service
Cut idle time – turn off equipment when we are not busy
Turning off one fryer during quiet time can save 50% of operating costs
“Crystal Clear” approached us on cleaning our Canopy – this yearly deep clean can save up to 20% on motor running costs
Turning the variable control on the extract unit during quiet times can save up to 50% on motor running costs
Keeping lids on pots reduce energy use by up to 40%
Don’t unnecessarily open oven doors – you’re simply letting money escape!
Fridges, Freezers & Coldrooms
In a bar & Restaurant – these are big energy users
At Revolution all our motors are external.
Imagine running a fridge motor in a warm bar – it takes it twice as long to cool down
So the motor is constantly running
Place the motor on an outside wall or on a roof and you will cut 50% off running costs
Make sure all door seals are clean and proper fitting
If you have a cold room – install a PVC Curtin to save 20% on running costs
Waste Disposal
We looked at our waste bill – firstly we met with our waste contractor
He gave us a lot of concessions – our waste bill is down 30% and we are helping the enviroment
We got free bin rental
Free collection of cardboard, plastic, cans, newsprint, office paper
We segregated as much waste as we could – kitchen waste counts to 220 litres a week –
In general waste this would cost €60 a week to dispose of – as compost waste its €14
We leased a glass crusher to minimize out glass volumes – so now we are returning 80% less glass bins
Our Kitchen decants deliveries as they arrive and returns all boxes to the supplier
€coMerit’ s Input
A big thanks to Phil Walker of €coMerit – he opened my eyes to the possible savings
He came and did an initial inspection and pointed me in the right direction to save money.
He showed me the benefit of putting all my electricity, gas, water & waste bills on a spead sheet and looking at them over a year. Then implementing changes to save money and watch the bills go down
We are looking to the future in making more and more changes as technology improves
Our next investment will probably upgrading our air conditioning sysyems – replacing 6 outdoor units with one that works on glycol (a type of antifreeze)
But Phil is always there with advice, to bounce idea off and to make sure am not straying from the €coMerit path
Prepared by Jim “Flash” Gordon of Revolution Gastro Bar & Escape Niteclub.
