Three Utility-savings Initiatives for Your Industrial Laundry Business
Utility bills creep up. Cycle times stretch. Finishing gets backed up. In on-premises laundry facilities like long-term care communities, firehouses and hotels, the laundry room is part of daily service and there isn’t much room for rework or wasted utilities.
In an industrial laundry business, saving utilities may mean tightening the process: Using the right amount of water, extracting more before drying and setting clear standards that your team can repeat. The ideas below focus on the day-to-day moves that can drive the biggest swings, plus a few places where industrial laundry technology can help keep settings consistent across shifts.
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Reduce Water Use in Your On-premises Laundry.
Conserving water is part of being a good steward and in the industrial laundry business, it can also help your day-to-day operations. Washer-extractors designed to use only the water a cycle actually needs can help reduce utility use and shorten fill times, which in turn helps keep cycle timing consistent. That consistency supports steadier throughput and more predictable scheduling, with fewer last-minute staffing adjustments when a load runs long.
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Enlist High G-Force Laundry Technology.
An effective way to remove water from wash loads is to spin at a higher G-Force. Investing in ultra-high-extraction machines rated at 400 G-Force (versus 100 or 200 G-Force) may help lessen dry times and reduce facility energy use*.
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End Over-drying with OPTidry™ Moisture-sensing Laundry Technology.
UniMac® OPTidry™ laundry technology measures moisture throughout the cycle and stops drying once the preset level is reached, which may help reduce utility costs and cycle time*. Ending over-drying can also mean less wear on linens, since drying is typically the more damaging half of the wash-dry cycle. Textiles that avoid unnecessary heat exposure tend to last longer, supporting more predictable replacement planning for your facility.
Bonus Tip: Be Sure to Select the Correct Cycles
Not all loads are created equal. If your staff is sorting by item and soil level, they should also be using the prescribed cycles for those items.
Wrong cycles may translate into higher costs for your operation. For instance, if your staff washes a light-soil load using a cycle programmed for heavier loads, you may be using unnecessary pre-washes, rinses and extra washes plus more chemicals and time. User-friendly controls and industrial/laundry technology like UniLinc™ Touch can help curb this operational misstep and keep your facility running efficiently.
Simplify Your Industrial Laundry Business Standards
The most sustainable improvements are the ones your team can repeat on a busy day. Pick one change, document the results and revisit your utility use and cycle timing after a few weeks to confirm the updated process is working well for your team.
*Depending on load type, equipment mix, utility rates and control settings.
