February 2006
Light Up Your Energy Savings
By Richard Young, Food Service Technology Center

By now most folks are familiar with compact fluorescent lamps, known as CFLs. These little screw-in wonders save on energy bills wherever they’re installed, but foodservice is lagging when it comes to taking advantage of this technology.

Perhaps the average capital cost of $6 to $12 per lamp is a turn-off for some operations, but consider this: The high cost of energy coupled with long restaurant operating hours means that most CFLs in restaurant use can pay for themselves in a matter of months, depending on the energy costs in your area. So don’t let lamp cost alone stand in the way of reducing energy bills across your system.

A quick and easy way to introduce CFLs to your operations is through exhaust hoods and walk-ins. These two areas tend to have the highest operating hours—more hours equal a bigger payback when you add CFLs—and aesthetic issues are minimal because the customer will never see the lamps.

(Note: Throughout our examples here, we’re using the high-end California pricing of 15 cents per kilowatt hour. If you’re outside California, your local energy costs will likely run lower. We’re also working with an average CFL cost of $6 to $12 per lamp. You may be able to find them at a lower cost in your area.)

Better Lighting In The Hood

Let’s begin with the exhaust hood. Say your operations use a model with four 75-watt bulbs, and your typical store has the hood lit up for 16 hours a day. These simple bulbs are cheap, but they burn out frequently, and they’re highly inefficient.

You can replace those four 75-watters with four warm-color, 23-watt, Energy Star-rated CFLs that can be picked up at a local hardware store. Since we’re talking about a hot environment, it’d be best to go with high-quality $12 lamps. That brings you to $48 just to light one hood in one store. Is it worth that cost?

You bet! Those four replacement CFLs will pay for themselves in about 14 weeks, and assuming a cost of 15 cents per kilowatt hour, you can pocket $130 a year in energy savings from just one hood. Stop to think of how many hoods you’re operating systemwide, and the energy savings picture brightens considerably.

Further, the CFLs will last for 10,000 hours, which means you won’t need to change them again for almost two years. And by using the same warm color as the old light bulbs, the kitchen staff will never notice the difference.

Where The Light’s Always On

Next, consider adding two $12 CFLs for the walk-in freezer, making sure to choose an Energy Star-rated CFL designed for use in low-temp environments. And over in the refrigerator, replace your old bulbs with a couple of $8 CFLs. These two should be Energy Star rated, as well, and can replace the 75-watt bulbs that burn constantly in your walk-in.

Once again, you should ask if the $40 investment is worth it. The answer: You’ll break even in 12 weeks and shave more than $140 off your energy bill in one year, again figuring 15 cents per kilowatt hour, the high-end rate in California.

So for an initial investment of about $88, you can get one store to save $270 just lighting one hood and two walk-ins over the course of one year. Again, when you do the math for the number of your stores, you’ll see how your savings can really add up. And just as important, you’ll get the same or better light output with CFLs, and they won’t burn out all the time.

Remember, though, to steer clear of cheap CFLs. If the price seems too good, it is; the cheap CFLs will certainly save energy, but could fail early. Always look for Energy Star-rated lamps.

Front-Of-House Possibilities

Next, let’s move to the front of the house, where customer needs mean you can’t cut corners on light quality. Fortunately, you can use CFLs out front, as well, and rake in the energy savings that come with.

Here’s an example of a good front-of-house CFL retrofit. Suppose you have hanging fixtures over tables with 60-watt incandescent “globe” light bulbs screwed into those fixtures. You can replace those bulbs with high-quality, globe-type CFLs for about $12 each. Since you will be using the “warm white” CFLs, your customers will never notice the difference.

You, however, will notice the difference as money saved. Over the 10,000-hour life of each one of those lamps, you will save about $70 dollars in energy (at California’s 15 cents per kilowatt hour) and will avoid changing between five and 10 burned out incandescent light bulbs. Your net savings could end up being about $60. With 20 fixtures in the dining room of just one restaurant, you’d be saving $1,200 on an investment of $240.

Here’s another approach. Many restaurants have menu boards that are lit with an array of floodlights suspended on tracks from the ceiling. There are CFL floodlights that look remarkably similar to incandescent floodlights in both size and light output. A 19-watt, warm-white, CFL flood is a good match for a 75-watt R30 incandescent flood.

Once again, this change out will save you about $70 in energy over the 10,000-hour life of the CFL and you will break even on the lamp costs since this CFL flood can replace about five regular floods. If you have 10 lamps on that menu board, then you’re pocketing an extra $700 annually. Easy Money!

One common mistake you want to avoid is using the “spring” style CFLs—the corkscrew-looking ones—or the “tube” CFLs in areas where customers can see them. They are great hidden behind wall sconces or under lampshades, but they’re not appealing when exposed and create uncomfortable glare. Stick with the globes, floods and other CFLs that look just like the light bulbs you’re replacing.  

Also, avoid using CFLs with dimmer switches. If you screw a typical CFL into a socket controlled by a dimmer, the lamp will fail quickly. CFLs are best for areas where light needs are constant, and simply should not be used with a dimming circuit.

A Final Tip For Fine Dining

Many restaurants are beautifully lit with small MR16 halogen spotlights. There is no CFL that can come close to replacing these lamps in terms of crisp, clean light and good looks.

But you can save energy by using a special type of “infrared restricted” halogen spot called an MR16IR. Such a spot lamp could cost several dollars more per lamp than the standard MR16s. The trick is to buy a box and use them to replace the regular MR16s as they burn out. A 37-watt IR will replace a standard 50-watt and a 50-watt IR will replace a 75-watt.

You might think these 13-watt and 25-watt savings are small pickings until you start counting all the MR16s your stores have installed. Remember, to be cost effective, your managers should wait until the MR16s burn out and then slip in the MR16IRs.

This article was originally published in the California Restaurant Bulletin, a monthly publication of the California Restaurant Association, and is reprinted with the permission of the CRA. The article was written by the PG&E Food Service Technology Center, an unbiased foodservice resource center located in San Ramon, Calif. The FSTC program is funded by California utility customers and administered by the Pacific Gas and Electric Co. under the auspices of the California Public Utilities Commission. For more information on the FSTC, please visit www.fishnick.com.