Owning a restaurant is a tricky business and usually new ventures do not see a profit until the end of year two. Preparation is imperative so in order for restaurant owners to shrink that timeline, there are a number of things that can lower the overhead in a dining establishment. One easy way to reduce overhead is to lower energy costs. There are a number of ways to do this in an average kitchen where there are numerous appliances like the oven and stove that generally always need to be on. A good place to look to start saving on energy consumption is lighting. From the first person in to the last person out, the kitchen lights will be on the entire work day which usually consists of at least twelve hours and often longer. That is a lot of time to be on when you consider most restaurant are open at least seven days a week year round. The savings from changing to more cost effective lighting may not look like much at first but when it adds up over a full year hundreds of dollars can potentially be saved. With lighting technology making significant strides in recent years there are a number of high efficiency, premium quality options to save money in the long run. Owning a restaurant is already difficult, and especially so in this down economy. Upgrading to high efficiency lighting can help as evidenced by the analysis of over 1,000 upgrade projects conducted by the Energy Cost Savings Council. They found that energy-efficient lighting upgrade projects routinely pay themselves back within 2-3 years and can deliver 30-50% returns on the investment. Here are some ways to reduce restaurant energy costs by upgrading to energy efficient lighting:

1. Switch to LED lighting: LED lights can reduce the electricity cost of lighting from 50% to 80% and last up to 80,000 hours. They do not have toxic mercury either.
2. Go with HP-T8 lighting instead of HPT-12: HP-T8’s (High Performance Lighting) can save up to 50% of the energy that a T12 uses. In addition, T-12’s will not be manufactured after 2012 so replacement will be an issue. These systems can reduce total system wattage compared to less efficient T-12 fluorescent lighting systems driven by magnetic ballasts.
3. Use occupancy sensors in rooms that do get used very much: Closets, walk-ins, spare rooms and any other part of a restaurant that does not require a light could use sensors. Timer switches and occupancy sensors are also good for reducing unnecessary electricity strain.
4. Switching to High Intensity Fluorescent (HIF) lighting: HIF light fixtures have made T-12 and High Intensity Discharge (HID) lighting a thing of the past as they have numerous advantages including being quieter and occupancy sensor friendly.