Utility Savings Checklist, Part 2

By Bob Meuschke | Jul 14, 2009

Yesterday, we covered the first 10 ways to keep your self-service laundry at its energy-efficient optimum. Today, we offer nine more tips and strategies for getting the most out of your utility dollars.

11. How old is your boiler? If your hot water system has not been upgraded since 1999, then your money is going right up the stack in both electricity and gas costs. Even within the last five years there have been great improvements and saving in the area of water heating. In fact, if your water heating system is old enough, you could install a new unit and probably pay for it within two to four years – just with the savings alone.

12. When was the last time you changed the flappers on your restroom toilet? In most parts of the country, these need to be changed at least once a year so that they don’t leak. However, in some parts of the country, they need to be changed several times per year. If you hear your toilet running, who knows how long it has been doing so. Also, check your sink washers periodically. Do your sinks’ faucets always shut off the water properly – or do they drip?

13. A coin laundry should not even be in business unless it has programmable HVAC thermostats. Be sure to check them at least every other month.

14. How many of you (not during winter months) shut your boiler off at night or have it set on a timer? This is something to consider. After all, you don’t need to be heating water when you are not open, especially during the long holidays.

15. Do you check the area between the front and the back of your dryers? Can heat or cool air-conditioned air escape through cracks and/or openings?

16. Lift up the tops of your bulkheads. Can you see any wet spots on the floor? If so, you may have small leaks from hoses or faucets. Just a few minutes and a few dollars can possibly save you several hundreds of dollars in repairs. You should check these areas at least once a month.

17. Also, while you have those bulkhead tops open, are your hot water lines insulated? This can be done very easily and very economically today – and it only has to be done once, unless there is a leak. This will not only make your hot water last longer but it also will be better for your customers, who will not have to wait as long between washes to get hot water.

18. Now, let’s go directly to the dryers. Once a year, check the exhaust for lint buildup. Also, once a year, pull out your burner assembly and – using canned air – blow it clean of all lint. It will run more efficiently, and you won’t have as many burn outs. In addition, check for leaks in your exhaust. Leaks will not only allow lint to get out and all over everything behind the dryers (which is a fire hazard), but if you have enough leaks, it will cause flame-outs because the carbon dioxide is replacing the oxygen needed to make fire. Last but not least, pull out your lint screens and inspect them for any softener clogs. Dryer sheets will cause some of the softener to develop on the screens, and it will clog up the openings, not allowing sufficient air to go through for the best dry during the dry time.

19. If we were in a perfect world, for the technological advancements that have come along in this industry within the last two to four years, we all would buy new washers and dryers. Living in the real world, you should at least be on some type of long-term schedule for this type of change and upgrade. Even if you just opened your laundry five or six years ago, the improvements that have been made would pay you to make a plan to incorporate regular changes in this area.

Some of these items only need to be done once – or once in a while. However, with seasonal changes, types of equipment and business fluctuations, the other things all should be done on a regular basis to get every dollar’s worth of utilities that you are paying for – and to keep that percentage of utilities to gross sales as low as possible.