Managing Water and Utility Costs at Your Laundromat

Utility costs are a big deal for laundromat owners and investors. In fact, more than half of laundromat owners cite high utilities as their largest obstacle for their business, according to Speed Queen. As costs continue to rise, it’s more important than ever that laundromat owners keep their water and electricity costs under control. To encourage this type of eco-friendly mindset, our team has compiled several tips for creating a laundry space that will help you better manage your water and electricity costs.

Invest in new, energy-efficient equipment.

Saving money at your laundromat all starts with having high-quality, energy-efficient laundry equipment. Coin-O-Matic provides numerous commercial washers and dryers that are ENERGY STAR® qualified, which means they’ll reduce the amount of energy used, save money, and protect the environment. Speed Queen estimates that upgrading to their current washer extractors will reduce water and sewer consumption by Sixty Percent (60%) verses most machines installed in the field today.

Read now: The Benefits of Upgrading Your Commercial Laundry Equipment

Utilize state-of-the-art controls.

Many of today’s top laundry brands are giving laundromat owners more control over their commercial laundry equipment (and their business) than ever before, which can help you better track and save on your utilities. For example, Speed Queen’s Quantum Controls have features like multi-level pricing and cycle modifiers, enabling you to charge for premium features like hot washes and extended dry time and subtly encouraging patrons to utilize more energy-efficient options. These controls also have things like auto leak detection, slow drain detection, auto shutdown assistant, and low power modes, all of which can help you detect issues early on and avoid major spikes in your utility costs.

Have a routine maintenance schedule and fix issues quickly.

This goes for all your commercial laundry equipment and your facility overall. From a laundry equipment perspective, machines that aren’t operating at peak efficiency are costing you money. That’s why it’s so important that you have a routine maintenance schedule. Keeping machines clean and spotting issues early can help you avoid issues like over-heating, leaks, and clogs that can impact your electricity and water use. If you own or lease your building, you’ll also want to be keeping an eye on sinks, toilets, pipes, and lighting. Even small flickers or slow drains can be signs of bigger issues that are costing you money.

Make sure your HVAC is clean and operating efficiently.

Keeping your laundry business an appropriate temperature year-round is not an easy – or cheap – task. Make sure ventures are open, and remove all dirt, dust, and other potential blockages on a regular basis and replace filters per instructions to make sure you’re heating and cooling your coin-laundry facility at top efficiency.

Adjust temperatures when your business isn’t operating.

When your laundromat isn’t open, there’s no need to have the heat or air conditioning running on full blast. Whether your system can be programmed to adjust automatically or you do it manually, simply raising and lowering the temperatures outside of operational hours can save you money each month. Just be sure you keep it warm enough to avoid frozen pipes during the winter (usually above 55 degrees is recommended).

Utilize fans.

Rather than cranking up the heat or air, you may want to try fans. Although fans can’t adjust the temperatures, they can keep the air circulating so your laundromat naturally feels more comfortable. They can also help ensure that your thermostat is reading an accurate temperature and reduce strain on your HVAC system.

Install energy-efficient lighting.

If you haven’t already, you may want to take a look at your laundromat’s lighting. Switching out your bulbs for money-saving options such as halogen incandescent, CFL, and LED lightbulbs with an ENERGY STAR rating can help cut your utility costs each month.

Adjust lighting during operational hours

Whether manually or utilizing automation, you can adjust your lights to help save your business money. If your business gets enough natural light, you can keep lights off during daytime hours and have them turn on automatically when it starts to get dark. You can also utilize motion sensors so that lights turn off automatically if no one is using your laundry facility.

Check seals around windows and doors.

A lot of money can be wasted by cold or hot air escaping outside. Check the seals around your windows and doors regularly and look for any cracks where air may be getting in and out. You can use caulk to help close up any gaps, or invest in other weather-proofing methods to help keep energy costs down.

Adjust the settings on your computer and other electronics.

If you have a computer or electronics around your laundromat, you may want to take a look at the settings. When the computer is off or in the sleep mode, it uses much less electricity than when it’s on and ready to use. If you or your employees are moving on to another task or leaving for the day, be sure your computer goes into a power-saving mode. The same goes for things like a stereo or speaker system, television, and other electronics that you may have available for you and your laundromat patrons to use.

These are just a few of the tips that can help you cut down on water and electricity use and save money in the long run at your laundromat business. At Coin-O-Matic, we recommend that you track your bills and energy consumption closely to see what may having the biggest impact on your overall costs.

If you want more information, check out these energy-efficient laundry tips for laundry business owners or contact our laundry experts to discuss how to lower costs at your laundromat!