Commercial Laundry Equipment

Thinking Green: Sustainable Laundry Practices

Thinking Green is the win-win mindset of implementing sustainable laundry practices that will also reduce water, sewer, and energy by being environmentally friendly and reducing our carbon footprint.

• Washer Programming

  • Almost all new washers have programmable controls that allow cycle times and temperatures to be precisely controlled for wash quality. Programming is where green savings begin.
    
    If a washer uses a prewash cycle, there will be 15—25 percent more water used. However, the only time a pre-wash cycle is actually required is when customers are washing very heavily soiled clothes.
    
    Older electro-mechanical timer washers almost always have a pre-wash cycle.  Replacing these older inefficient washers will allow you to decrease your water consumption by up to 45%.
    
    
  • Washer programming is the biggest variable in controlling water consumption. It is also a contributor to determining energy consumption. The human interface with programming directly impacts water and energy savings. 
    
    Huebsch Galaxy 600 controls allow for the customer to purchase an Extra Wash or an Extra Rinse for additional money.  Huebsch gives control to the consumer as to whether they need an extra wash cycle and then allows them to pay for the additional water and energy usage.

• Water Consumption 
• Older washers usually only have three water levels to choose from: low, medium, or high. However, the Huebsch Galaxy 600 controls offer far more water levels. In fact, they offer 30 water levels to choose from.
  
  A wider selection of water levels allows for small changes that can affect annual water consumption by tens of thousands of gallons. Less expensive machines do not have this flexibility. 
  
  
• While new owners may save money on purchasing cheaper, less feature-rich washers, their cost of ownership is much higher due to the higher utility costs and the lower profit per wash cycle. Water & sewer costs are rising more rapidly than any other cost in operating a Laundromat. Investing in state-of-the-art microprocessor controls decreases your water consumption and increases your profits, all while helping the environment.

• Energy Consumption

  • The largest energy consumer in the commercial laundry business is the hot water heater and the drying tumbler. Energy costs are between 10-15 percent of the total laundry operating costs.
    
    But there are some simple methods for reducing energy consumption. Water heating expenses can be cut simply by reducing the water temperature and eliminating the pre-wash cycle.
  • Higher extract speeds in the washer-extractors are an easy way to trim drying times before loads even make it to the tumbler. The time, cost, and energy required to remove water in a washer are much less than removing water in a dryer.
    
    Extraction speed is measured in G-Force, and a higher G-Force means stronger extraction and less water left in the load. When comparing a low-priced 100 G-Force washer and a 200 G-Force washer, the extra water removed by a high G-Force machine can reduce drying time by 20-25 percent.
    
    
    This saves gas and drying time and increases throughput in the Laundromat.
    
    
  • However, the greatest energy consumption improvements can be found in decreasing drying time. Drying tumblers account for nearly 70 percent of all energy consumption in the laundry.
    
    Optimum dry design is the balance between heat, tumble action, and airflow. Drying efficiency is best delivered through this balance.
    
    Design features such as tighter tolerances, which force hot air through linens, versus around them, reduce drying times. Fast-drying times and lower Btu consumption save energy.  Huebsch has optimized its drying tumblers to be an excellent balance between reduced drying times and saving energy.
    
    

  Contact HK Laundry for more information and additional tips to creating sustainable laundry practices.