Switching over to an Energy Star ice machine can definitely save water and energy when compared to non-Energy-Star certified equipment, but those pieces of equipment should be purchased with an overall maintenance and water-savings program in mind.

In other words, it’s not simply a matter of purchasing an Energy Star Certified ice machine and dishwasher and calling it a day. With a strategic focus on energy savings, the EPA estimates that utility costs can be cut by 10-30%, yielding a dramatic impact on the bottom line.

Proper maintenance of your ice machine plays a huge factor in keeping it operating to Energy Star standards.  Here are some things that you can do to help save precious water and energy.

• Install timers for your ice machine to encourage production of ice during non-peak times of the day.  By reducing the demand, you are also reducing the energy that you use.
• Clean and maintain the ice maker on a regular basis.  Make adjustments to the purge water timer on your machines so water isn’t overused.
• Using the owner’s manual, clean the condenser coils of your ice maker so that the machine isn’t working harder that it should.
• Thoroughly clean the machine on a regular basis using warm soapy water unless otherwise recommended.  There are solutions that you can use for deliming and descaling.
• Purchase larger, not smaller.  The larger machines sometimes take almost as much energy for more ice.  This will give you an ice machine to grow into if necessary.

Broadening the scope beyond ice machines, the next place to look for savings in water and energy usage is in dishwashers.  According to the EPA, the largest usage of water in a restaurant is in the dishwasher. Here are some ideas for lowering the water usage.

• Only make full loads of dishes.  While a full cycle runs in less than a minute for some dishwashers, running without a full load in place can waste a considerable amount of water.
• Turn the dishwashers off at the end of the day, or when there is a significant amount of time that they’re not in use.
• When waiting to put the items into the dishwasher, soak them in standing water, rather than in running water.  Having a single flush of water is wasteful, and can prevent the usage of thousands of gallons a month.
• Instead of having places where there is a continuous flow of water, see if there are any alternatives – like having standing water instead.
• Replace the nozzles with lower-flow nozzles for dishwashing areas.  The low-flow nozzles use around half of what the regular nozzles do, and are just as effective.

Many options exist for saving both energy and water within the restaurant environment, but it must be a conscious effort, not one which is haphazardly done.