Jasmine Birtles
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13 Ways Small Food Businesses Slash Energy Bills
Moneymagpie Team
5th Oct 2025
Opening a food business can come with a rush of excitement. But with tight margins and significant equipment needs, running a restaurant or catering company can feel overwhelming. You’ll need reach-in refrigerators, convection ovens, steamers, fryers, and other key pieces of equipment. If you’re not smart about your choices, you can eat up your profits in a hurry.
Fortunately, with some wise choices, you can trim energy use while speeding up efficiency in your food service. Read on to discover 13 small ways food businesses can slash energy bills.
- Turn to Induction Hobs and Magnetic Energy
- Change Out Your Ovens
- Opt for Better Ventilation
- Add Energy-Efficient Equipment to Your Kitchen
- Commit to Regular Maintenance
- Program Thermostats to Save Money
- Be Mindful of Equipment Use
- Install Smart Meters to Track Energy Use
- Add LED Lighting to Save Energy
- Seal Your Hot Water Lines
- Only Run Dishwashers When Full
- Cook in Larger Batches
- Look into Heat Recovery Systems
1. Turn to Induction Hobs and Magnetic Energy
Cooktops are a staple in any kitchen. But if you’re not using induction hobs, it may be time for an upgrade. Induction hobs use magnetic energy to heat cookware, offering faster and safer heating than traditional methods. This helps you serve more people and can be part of a strategy to scale up your business. The coils underneath the cooking zone enable cooks to arrive at more precise temperatures, while the hob surface is cool. These are pricier cooktops than gas burners, but they won’t use as much energy, which saves money over time, and they’re safer for your staff.
2. Change Out Your Ovens
Investing in a combi oven can save your business space and, eventually, money. These units can do baking, roasting, and steaming. They also offer the advantage of precise temperature and humidity controls. They cook quickly and produce results that will taste better, as well. Food businesses can see a return on this investment within a few years. Exploring options in the Restaurant Supply Vulcan lineup can help food businesses find the ideal choice.
3. Opt for Better Ventilation
Traditional kitchen hoods typically don’t allow users to easily change fan speeds. Consequently, fans may run at the same speed, regardless of cooking needs. By contrast, demand-controlled ventilation systems can shift fan speeds thanks to sensors. Cooks can see the results in better energy efficiency and utility savings within a few years of a demand-controlled ventilation purchase.
4. Add Energy-Efficient Equipment to Your Kitchen
With the availability of energy-efficient ovens and ranges, you can stock your kitchen with equipment that will lower your utilities and repair needs. You can explore options in a range of sizes and BTU outputs to suit your budget. Yes, you’ll pay a little more on the front end. But within five years, the energy savings should pay back.
5. Commit to Regular Maintenance
In a commercial kitchen, you’ll need to commit to daily and monthly maintenance to keep your equipment in working order. Plan on cleaning the condenser coil in your fridge and oven gaskets. De-lime your sink and clean floor drains. And clean the grease filters and fan blades in your ventilation. Doing this maintenance on a monthly or quarterly schedule can help prevent maintenance issues down the road and increase the longevity of your equipment.
6. Program Thermostats to Save Money
One of the quickest ways to lose money is through your heating and cooling systems. The last thing you want to do is have your HVAC system running at full capacity in an empty kitchen overnight. Make sure to program your thermostats to temperatures that will keep your energy use under control. Even within a few months, you’ll see the benefits reflected in your utility bills.
7. Be Mindful of Equipment Use
Training should be a key part of your efforts to slash energy bills. Train your staff to turn on equipment only when they really need to use it. Give staff a checklist so they’re more mindful of when they turn equipment on and off.
8. Install Smart Meters to Track Energy Use
Smart meters can be a great way to create accountability in your kitchen. They’ll track energy for each hour, and you can even install sub-meters for more detailed readings on your cooking or HVAC use. You’ll be able to determine when you’re using the most energy so you can strategize ways to lower your costs.
9. Add LED Lighting to Save Energy
Are you still using fluorescent or halogen bulbs? Making the upgrade to LEDs can lower your lighting energy use significantly. Even better, LEDs tend to last longer, which means you won’t be changing out lightbulbs as often.
10. Seal Your Hot Water Lines
You may not think about the status of your hot water pipes, but you should if you want to save money. Hot water pipes that haven’t been insulated will lose heat quickly, driving up heating costs. It’s not expensive to insulate your pipes, making this a worthy investment.
11. Only Run Dishwashers When Full
Running a partially full dishwasher can cost you more money, so wait until your dishwasher is totally full. Scrape off food before loading dishes, and if your budget allows, upgrade to ENERGY STAR–rated models to lower your operating costs.
12. Cook in Larger Batches
When you cook food in smaller batches, you’ll force your ovens, fryers, and cooktops to cycle through energy inefficiently. The better choice is to cook in large batches. Likewise, if you can prep all ingredients for a particular dish in one session, you’ll only need to open the door to your fridge once. That cuts down on energy loss, as well.
13. Look into Heat Recovery Systems
With heat recovery systems, you can capture escaped heat and air from your operating systems and recycle it. While heat recovery systems aren’t cheap, they do contribute to lower water heating bills, and you’ll see payback within several years.
Saving Energy
You don’t have to make major financial investments or reconfigure your kitchen to slash energy bills. Even some small decisions, like upgraded lighting or a clear maintenance schedule, can lead to savings. Additionally, actions like sealing hot water lines, choosing combi ovens, and programming thermostats can translate to significant cost-cutting. Mix quick fixes with long-term investments to reap the most benefits. You’ll be able to operate a smarter kitchen that limits energy waste and runs efficiently.
Disclaimer: MoneyMagpie is not a licensed financial advisor and therefore information found here including opinions, commentary, suggestions or strategies are for informational, entertainment or educational purposes only. This should not be considered as financial advice. Anyone thinking of investing should conduct their own due diligence.
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