Guide
The bill nobody reads.
Energy is one of the largest fixed costs in a kitchen and one of the least examined.
In short
Most restaurant energy goes on refrigeration, cooking equipment and extraction, much of it running when the kitchen is empty. Read your standing charges and unit rates, check your contract end date, and fix the operational basics first: equipment switched on too early and left on too late is usually the largest single waste.
Updated 28 August 2026
Read the contract before changing anything
Find your unit rate, your standing charge and your contract end date. Out-of-contract rates are substantially higher and plenty of restaurants sit on them for years without noticing. This is a fifteen-minute job with the largest potential return on this page.
Switch-on and switch-off times
Equipment turned on at ten for a service starting at five is the most common waste in a commercial kitchen. Fryers, grills and ovens brought up too early burn energy doing nothing. Write a switch-on schedule matched to actual service times and put it on the wall.
- Staged switch-on, not everything at open
- A written switch-off checklist for close
- Extraction matched to cooking, not run all day
Refrigeration runs constantly, so it repays attention
Door seals, condenser coils and thermostat settings. A walk-in with a failing seal runs continuously and nobody notices because it still holds temperature. Cleaning coils and checking seals quarterly is cheap and it is the maintenance most often skipped.
Fix the free things before buying equipment
Replacing equipment for efficiency rarely pays back quickly on a restaurant's timescale. Schedules, seals, coils, lighting and thermostat settings cost little or nothing and produce most of the available saving. Do those, measure, and only then consider capital spend.
The honest limitation
Energy pricing is largely outside your control and moves with the market. You can influence consumption and your contract; you cannot influence the rate environment. Focus on the two you control and treat the rest as a cost of trading.
Questions, answered straight.
Not covered here? Just ask us.
Should I switch supplier?
Compare when your contract is near its end, and never let it lapse into out-of-contract rates. That single point matters more than the supplier choice.
Is a half-hourly meter worth it?
If you have one, the data is genuinely useful: it shows exactly what is running overnight. Consumption when the building is empty is the quickest diagnostic available.
Do induction hobs save money?
They are more efficient at the point of use and reduce extraction load. Whether they pay back depends on your usage and your replacement cycle, so treat it as a replacement decision rather than a saving project.
What about the extraction system?
It is a large consumer and is frequently run at full speed all day. Matching it to cooking activity is one of the better available savings in a busy kitchen.
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