With energy prices rocketing, causing operators significant cost issues, ceda’s technical team is looking for money saving ideas that can be quickly implemented in any commercial kitchen to help them reduce their energy usage.

Any kitchen operating a commercial dishwasher can make some immediate savings if they start using Chlorine based (chlorinated) detergents as these will allow the water temperatures of the wash and rinse to be reduced.

As an example of the savings possible, the ceda team have worked on the following dishwasher use case for a typical hotel catering operation:

• A hood type dishwasher being used for 50 breakfasts, lunches and dinners resulting in 3 fills of the machine and 30 cycles per day, can save up to £1370.17* a year.
• Similar pro rata cost savings can also be made with glasswashers when using chlorinated detergents.

Whilst the Biocidal Products Directive requires independent data to prove that a product disinfects, it is widely accepted that Chlorine based detergents achieve a higher rate of disinfection than washing with standard chemicals.

In addition, the use of chlorinated detergents does not slow down the drying time for crockery. The use of a rinse aid is still required to break down the surface tension to allow the rinse water to form only a thin film on the ware which quickly evaporates.

There are two types of Chlorine based detergents available for commercial dishwashing. These are:

• Chlorinated alkaline detergents that are suitable for most dishwashing tasks as they remove starches and grease.
• Chlorine only detergents that are most suitable for removing protein and tannin.

For any operators looking to implement this money saving plan for their kitchen, ceda advises that any of their member companies can send an engineer to lower the water temperatures in a dish or glasswasher so that they will work with chlorinated detergents. Energy savings will then be immediate.

Further ideas are being worked on by the ceda technical team to assist all operators and ensure they are using their catering equipment in as efficient a method as possible.

ceda members can download the updated Technical Guidance Document #027b from the ceda Resources section of the Member’s Area of the website. The document provides information for members about the use of Chlorine based dishwashing chemicals.

*savings figures based on an electricity cost of 90.5 pence per kilowatt hour as quoted by British Gas to the Rose and Crown pub and published in Foodservice Equipment Journal on the 30^th August 2022.