HOBART UK is urging caterers to gear up for a greener future by ensuring they use the latest generation of warewashing equipment and operate it as efficiently as possible.
Tim Bender, UK Sales Director – Warewashing, Hobart UK, says: “With soaring energy costs, operating sustainability is more crucial than ever. Being more environmentally aware doesn’t preclude you from making marked economic savings, however. Switching to a new generation of state-of-the-art equipment that has been developed specifically with energy savings in mind, could provide a much needed business boost. Conversely, ensuring the machine is serviced regularly and operated in the most efficient manner possible could extend its operational life and make for a serious return on your investment.”
Always at the forefront of innovation, Hobart UK employs extensive R&D and technological advancement in key areas drastically improving water and energy efficiency. Here, the multi-award winning company shares its Seven Golden Rules allowing caterers to unlock the business potential of their warewasher.
Address the Water “Hot Spot”
Heating water is without doubt the number one use of energy. Make sure you select a machine that has compact wash tanks. These are fitted as standard to all Hobart machines resulting in a very low water usage to ensure each machine is as energy efficient as it possibly can be.
Get Switched On (and Off)
It sounds elementary but many warewashers are often switched on well before they are used and may sit on standby for long periods in between washes. In the majority of these cases, it is more energy efficient to drain the machine down and refill again later in the day.
Harness Information Updates
Knowledge is power – use the information available to ensure your warewasher is earning its corn. Sophisticated equipment such as Hobart’s Premax FTP features touch-screen control providing operators with updated information at all times including fault reporting, tank and wash temperatures, energy consumption data and running times. This allows operators to monitor the performance of a machine and to identify periods when it is not in use so they can ensure it is switched off at these times to save energy.
Don’t be a Basket Case
The most important, yet simple and basic tip we offer is to ensure efficient and correct loading of the baskets and racks. From our experience, many operators only part fill the baskets to 60/70% capacity – meaning the machine isn’t being used to its fullest potential and energy is being wasted heating up water for a full load. If this happens repeatedly, then a great deal of energy can be lost.
Clean Up Your Act
Pre-scrape plates thoroughly before loading the rack: this helps to keep the wash water cleaner and means that the machine requires less draining and re-filling during operation and also uses less detergent.
At Your Service
We always stress that regular servicing is crucial to maximising equipment performance and efficiency. Commercial catering equipment is built to last but a simple, preventative maintenance programme, including a regular service, ensures machines last their expected lifetime. There are substantial benefits of keeping equipment properly maintained, from lower running costs and reduced lifetime costs, to increased operating efficiency. Hobart Service works with ALL makes and models of catering equipment and offers three levels of maintenance programmes; ‘Plus’, ‘Extra’ and ‘Max’, with a range of benefits. Each programme provides one point of contact with personal access to over 200 company employed technicians, whose expertise guarantees downtime is decreased and a 93% first time fix is achieved.
Match Your Needs
It is important to know the needs of your site and match it to the level of equipment you need. For example, a dishwasher that is used an hour a day may not need to have all the features that a machine being used eight hours a day might have. A Hobart dishwasher fitted with Genius X2 active filtration will be able to operate much longer without draining and refilling than a machine with a basic filter system.
Hobart has developed a range of the most energy efficient warewashing equipment in the world. Always striving to help customers meet their sustainability targets, these golden rules are easy to follow and designed to help keep utility costs to a minimum for years to come.