Commercial Kitchen and Food Service Equipment
Commercial kitchens in restaurants, hotels, hospitals, and institutional facilities use more energy per square foot than almost any other commercial facilities. In these locations, energy used for refrigeration, food preparation, and water heating can amount to almost 60 percent of total energy use. Savings from installation of high efficiency equipment can range between 10 and 30 percent. BPA offers incentive reimbursements to customer utilities for installation of an expanded suite of energy efficient kitchen and food service measures to commercial customers. Measures include refrigerators, freezers, ice makers, steamers, high efficiency electric fryers, hot food holding cabinets and pre-rinse spray wash valves, combination ovens, convection ovens, and commercial dishwashers. The development of reimbursements for a comprehensive suite of measures for kitchen and food service equipment is designed to support utilities in their administration of targeted efficiency programs for an energy-intensive set of end users. ENERGY STAR Commercial Kitchen Package Oregon Business Energy Tax Credit
About Commercial Kitchens
The capital cost of commercial kitchen equipment is significant, and the best opportunity for cost-effective energy savings occurs when a facility is buying new equipment or replacing units that have exceeded their useful life. The opportunity for electric energy efficiency varies with the choice of fuel source. While refrigeration equipment is inherently electrically powered, natural gas has significant market share with some cooking equipment (such as fryers) as well as water heaters. This means that program implementation may be more straightforward in all-electric service territories where the opportunity may be greater.
Measures and Reimbursements
A full list of deemed commercial kitchen equipment measures and BPA reimbursements is available in the Implementation Manual. Measures include: Refrigerators and Freezers BPA reimburses up to $150 per refrigerator and up to $350 per freezer for installation of premium efficiency equipment meeting the Consortium for Energy Efficiency (CEE) Tier 2 standard. Payback for these measures is very short, typically less than one year. For example, a Tier 2 freezer costs $490 more than a comparable baseline model. However, the BPA reimbursement available to utilities can cover $350 of this cost, for a net cost of $140. This investment is very small relative to annual energy savings of 2,863 kWh, worth $172 at $0.06 per kWh. Ice Makers BPA reimburses between $100 and $240 per unit for installation of premium efficiency air-cooled ice makers. Units must conform to CEE Tier 2 standards, and higher reimbursements of up to $300 are available for the highest efficiency Tier 3 units. Energy savings for some Tier-3 units can be worth up to $175 annually at $0.06 per kWh. Steamers BPA reimburses up to $200 for premium efficiency steamers that meet Regional Technical Forum (RTF) Tier 2 specifications. These reimbursement rates may cover the entire incremental cost of these measures. For example, a qualifying six-pan steamer will have a net cost after rebate of $0 and will yield $132 in annual energy savings (at $0.06 per kWh). These strong economics make steamers a keystone measure for any comprehensive commercial kitchen efficiency program. Hot Food Holding Cabinets BPA reimburses $200 to $400 for premium efficiency hot food holding cabinets. Cabinets that meet CEE Tier 2 efficiency standards can deliver savings worth up to $115 annually. The incremental cost of these measures can be significant so measure paybacks may be three or more years. Pre-Rinse Spray Valves Efficient pre-rinse spray valves [0.65 gpm or less] have the potential to save energy worth $250 annually in facilities with electrically heated water. BPA offers a strong reimbursement of $100 that will cover most of the cost of the unit and installations, making this measure an attractive direct install option that can complement marketing of other commercial kitchen rebates. Water savings are another benefit of this measure. Convection Ovens BPA reimburses $200 per qualifying commercial convection oven. The model must be an EnergyStar commercial electric convection oven. Combination Ovens BPA reimburses up to $1,750 for qualified electric combination ovens that have a cooking efficiency of 70% or greater with an idle energy rate of 3.5kW or less. Dishwashers BPA reimburses $100 to $750 for qualified commercial dishwashers that meet the RTF efficiency standard. Fryers BPA reimburses $125 per installation on qualified commercial electric fryers. The electric fryer must meet RTF eligibility requirements where eligibility is based on cooking energy efficiency and the idle energy rate of the unit.