Energy Saving with Cheetah™

Most commerical kitchen hoods operate at 100% capacity all day long, even during idle, non-cooking periods.  This costs the UK food service industry millions in wasted energy every year.  50% of the cost of a meal bought in a restaurant is attributed to the cost of energy, 30% of this energy cost is taken up by kitchen ventilation alone. (Source: EDF Energy)

The Cheetah™ system is usually installed with the extract fan running continuously, but during levels of low activity will slow it down to between 30-50% of maximum operating speed.  At these levels the energy saved is between 87-97%.

Even larger savings will often be achieved from the reduction in losses of conditioned air. A typical extract system, running at maximum speed, will draw "conditioned air" into the atmosphere at a rate of 2-4 cubic metres per second.  This air has to be replaced at considerable cost.  The Cheetah™ system has been shown to typically reduce the conditioned air losses by 40%.

Return on Investment

Typical returns on investments are between 1.5-2.5 years. Additional benefits can be obtained in respect of:

The Climate Change Levy
This applies to energy used in the non-domestic sector.  The aim of the Levy is to encourage industry, commerce and the public sector to improve energy efficiency and reduce emissions of greenhouse gases.  Please click here for more information.

Energy Efficiency Loan
To help small businesses make investments in energy efficiency, the Carbon Trust offers energy loans to fund the cost of buying energy equipment.  Interest free loans are available and the repayment period is up to four years.  Energy loans are available to SME’s based in England, Wales and Northern Ireland that have been trading for at least 12 months.  For more information, click here to visit the Carbon Trust website.

Affinity Laws

Fans consume power in proportion to their speed cubed.  Therefore an extract fan running at 50% speed will only consume 13% of the energy (½ x ½ x ½) but will extract 50% of the air.  This is illustrated by the "Affinity Laws for Centrifugal Loads" as shown below.