5 Ways to Save Energy in Your Brewery

Running a brewery means managing a wide range of systems every day. Over time, even small inefficiencies can add up, driving up energy use and costs. Taking a closer look at how energy is used throughout your facility can help uncover opportunities to save. Here are five places to look first.

1. Upgrade to LED Lighting

Lighting is a great place to start. Upgrading your facility’s lighting to LEDs does more than reduce your electricity usage: It also cuts down on maintenance costs and can improve safety and aesthetics. LEDs last significantly longer than older styles of bulbs, so you’ll replace them less frequently. 

2. Insulate Your Pipes

You likely have a lot of piping that delivers either steam or chilled water into the system. These are great candidates for insulation to help reduce heat or cold loss. If you already have piping insulation, check for cracks or weaknesses. Using less energy to heat and cool water will save your business money.  

3. Check Your Motors

Most brewing systems have several motors.  Take stock of each one to see whether it’s the right size for the task at hand. Sometimes a motor can be slowed down in your system, significantly reducing energy use. You can also evaluate whether your motors are idling when not in use and consider implementing an automatic shutdown process. If you need to replace a motor, consider a high-efficiency model and evaluate if a variable frequency drive (VFD) is right for you. 

4. Inspect Your Biggest Energy Users

The biggest energy users in the brewing process are boilers and chillers. After production, your biggest energy user is likely refrigeration. 

An Efficiency Smart engineering consultant can help you determine whether your boilers and chillers are running efficiently and then make tweaks to improve their performance. If your equipment is reaching the end of its life, you might be eligible for a rebate to help cover the cost of new, efficient models. 

When it comes to refrigeration, Efficiency Smart can help identify opportunities to reduce leakage and ensure that everything is working smoothly. 

5. Reduce Energy Use in Your Kitchen 

If your brewery has a restaurant, look for opportunities to reduce energy use in your kitchen. The most impactful thing you can do is switch to ENERGY STAR appliances and cooking equipment when yours reach the end of their life. Efficient refrigerators, dishwashers, hoods, and the like can significantly reduce your operating costs in the kitchen. 

Tap Deeper Into Energy Savings 

ENERGY STAR’s treasure map for microbreweries is a good resource for uncovering additional energy-saving opportunities in your facility. For a more customized approach, Efficiency Smart’s engineering consultants can walk through your brewery, identify where energy is being used most, and recommend efficiency upgrades that make sense for your operation.

Get Started

If you’re ready to make your brewery more efficient, reach out to your local account manager, call us at 877-889-3777, or email us at [email protected].