Winter of dish contentment
June 23rd 2008

Warewash specialist, Winterhalter, is winning awards for its green technology. Marketing development manager, Paul Crowley, says developing technology to save customers time and money is the key to future growth. Brendan Coyne reports

Products that save time, money and improve operating conditions not only make life easier for the buyer, but also the salesman. By ticking all three boxes, Winterhalter has earned a substantial slice (around eight per cent) of the UK warewasher market. With all sectors aware of soaring energy bills, and the need to improve environmental impact, the company believes the cost savings delivered by its Intelligent Resource Technology (IRT) will convince customers to buy the advanced machines – despite being more expensive upfront than traditional counterparts.

“The IRT products, large or small, provide a resource saving facility, whether energy, water or chemical, as a consequence of using less water,” Crowley explains. “For our glass and dishwashers we developed an optimised rinse system where the arm uses less water, using the collision technique: the water collides in the head of the rinse arm before it’s emitted, which increases the force at which it comes out, but uses less water to do so.”

Crowley says resultant water savings depend on machine type and usage. As a concrete example, a small glasswasher would previously use 3litres of water per cycle. With the rinse arm technology it uses 2.4litres, generating significant annual savings. In tandem, using less water naturally means less chemical is needed.

Another small machine, an under-the-counter Re-Temp glass washer aimed squarely at the pub market, saves energy by washing at a lower temperature than traditional machines. Alongside reduced utility bills the practical end-user benefit is that operators can use glasses straight from the wash cycle without waiting for them to cool down.

Toward the top of the range, Crowley claims average use of the awardwinning Energy dishwasher – which extracts steam generated in the wash cycle and uses its energy to heat incoming water – can save round £1,200 in utility costs per annum. He claims restaurant chain, Nando’s, is replacing all of its old machines with Energy units across its 200 or so UK outlets. “Almost £250,000 saved per year is substantial – and that’s just on average usage,” says Crowley. “If usage is higher, savings increase accordingly.”

Another practical benefit of the Energy machine is that, because steam doesn’t escape into the kitchen, the environment is less hot and humid, helping keep staff more comfortable and productive. Taking this a step further, Winterhalter’s Energy+ dishwashers harness both heat recovery from the hood and the drain water (using the hot dirty water coming out of the machine to help heat up the incoming water), furthering energy efficiency.

On its larger dishwashers, elements such as the Fresh Air Drying Zone also deliver running cost savings by drawing in air from outside the machine, gently warming it and using it to dry the dishes. As a result the units use less energy (up to 4kW total connected load) cutting operating costs by around a third.

Despite seemingly significant energy, water and consumable saving features, none of Winterhalter’s machines currently qualify for Enhanced Capital Allowances. According to Crowley, that’s not for lack of trying. “We’ve tried to get acceptance onto the Carbon Trust’s lists but there are complications: While the Carbon Trust recognise the machines can significantly contribute towards energy savings, there is currently no industry standard for measuring energy consumption, which means they can’t quantify our energy saving credentials.”

The solution, according to Crowley, is for the industry itself to come up with an energy rating scheme similar to that for domestic appliances, resulting in an industry benchmark. Although less than straightforward, he believes the commercial benefits are worth it.

Alongside machine development, Winterhalter is also working on a greener line of warewash chemicals, which at time of writing were undergoing trials. However, Crowley is confident the company will be “well on its way” to having a full line of greener chemicals, independently verified and tested, around about the time this article is being read.

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