Sydney – Australian restaurants can save up to 50% on energy costs and cut energy use by up to 64% by switching from gas to electric equipment, according to a new guide by The Sustainable Restaurant Association (SRA), the Global Cooksafe Coalition (GCC) and Hospitality Energy Savings and Sustainability (HESS).
Published today, the guide Making the Switch contains step-by-step instructions for going electric, as well as testimonials from chefs including Rodney Dunn and Luke Burgess who have already made the switch, alongside findings of real-world modelling by HESS on financial, energy and carbon savings.
The guide and its findings emphasize the potential long-term savings from switching to electric cooking, helping hospitality businesses stay afloat in economically unpredictable times and future-proof themselves against regulation and energy market volatility.
Global Cooksafe Coalition Head of Chef and Cooktop Engagement, Jilly Middleton, said: “Electric equipment can deliver a range of benefits – including reducing heat in the kitchen and improving working conditions for staff. Induction appliances are also three times more efficient than gas stoves, and are easier to clean – saving restaurants money on labour and cleaning chemicals.
“With rising energy prices and tight margins continuing to challenge hospitality businesses across Australia, moving our businesses to electric is a future-proofing measure. Renewable energy makes up more and more of the grid every year, and isn’t subject to fuel prices, export markets or global disruptions.”
For the guide, HESS monitored, analysed and calculated potential savings from going electric for three UK businesses: a gastropub, a Chinese takeaway restaurant and an Indian restaurant. Based on real operational energy data from commercial kitchens combined with up-to-date performance data from commercial cooking equipment, this type of transparent, equipment-level data is rarely made publicly available in the hospitality sector. This makes the guide one of the first resources to provide detailed financial and operational evidence for electrification.
These findings have been adapted to the Australian market by converting gas consumption from kilowatt hours to megajoules, applying national average Australian commercial energy prices for electricity and gas, and updating emissions calculations using Australian National Greenhouse Accounts electricity and natural gas factors.
The analysis found annual savings including:
- Electrification would save the gastropub $55,651 (50%) in energy costs, with a 64% cut in energy consumption and 48% drop in carbon emissions.
- The Chinese takeaway restaurant would save $20,140, a 47% drop in energy costs, with a 61% cut in energy use and 23% drop in carbon emissions.
- The Indian restaurant would save $18,016 in energy costs (32%), with a 48% drop in energy consumption and 8% drop in carbon emissions.
On average, the restaurants could save 43% on energy costs, cut energy use by 58%, and reduce CO2 emissions by 26% by switching to electric.
The return on investment in the long term for these businesses could be enormous. All three restaurants see the cost of new electrical equipment covered by savings within the first three years, and could see savings of hundreds of thousands of dollars over five years.
Hospitality Energy Savings and Sustainability Director, Dr Sam Mudie, said: “Up until now, without publicly available data, operators have often been asked to electrify without clear evidence of the financial impact. Our aim was to show, with real numbers, what electrification actually looks like for different types of kitchens.
“We found that diverse businesses would make substantial savings on operations costs by going electric. Transitioning would also allow businesses to replace several pieces of equipment with a single, more efficient appliance, resulting in even greater savings outside of just energy, such as maintenance, space, cleaning and labour.”
Making the Switch is a major resource for the hospitality industry, and in particular for restaurants, pubs and contract caterers looking to make their commercial kitchens more sustainable and cost efficient.
The Sustainable Restaurant Association CEO, Juliane Caillouette Noble, said: “We’re thrilled to launch this guide in partnership with Global Cooksafe Coalition. Being able to show real, significant cost savings alongside the environmental and social impacts of kitchen electrification proves that this should be a no-brainer for hospitality businesses, and we look forward to seeing more operators adopt these changes in the coming years.”
The guide also highlights the range of other benefits of switching from gas to electric kitchens, including the elimination of dangerous gas-linked chemicals like nitrogen dioxide and benzene – both associated with respiratory diseases and cancer. Electric cooking also reduces emissions of methane – a potent greenhouse gas – which can leak from stoves even when they’re off.
Chef testimonial
Manpreet Sekhon, Australia’s Curry Queen, chef owner of Masti, Elchi, and Eastern Spice, said: “This is a good thing for the industry—once you have an electric kitchen, it’s a game changer, you’ll never go back. My staff and I love the all-electric kitchen at Elchi. It’s cheaper to run compared to my two gas restaurants, and it’s easier to clean—you can’t argue with that.”
Junda Khoo, acclaimed chef and owner, Ho Jiak, Tam Jiak, said: “In an Asian kitchen like ours, a 60-litre stock pot on gas can take up to two and a half hours to get to boiling point – often meaning chefs need to come in early just to get it started. On induction, we can achieve the same result in around 45 minutes, which makes a real difference to labour, efficiency and how we run the kitchen day to day.”
Contact
Anna Mansfield, Australian Global Cooksafe Coalition PR Consultant | anna@leisurepractice.com | 0405 297 191
