Homestead Farms Restaurant Cooks Up Energy Savings With Idaho Power

The Business

Homestead Farms Restaurant is a family-style restaurant located in Blackfoot, Idaho. Owner Bill Dishman and his daughter, a partner in the business, employ many young people from the area.

The Challenge

Dishman and his daughter were interested in making Homestead Farms Restaurant more energy efficient and examined the best possible ways to save energy.

The Solution

Bill and his daughter decided to install a high-efficiency dishwasher and a solar hot water pre-heater.

Compared to the old unit, the new solar unit uses less than one-third of the water, significantly reducing the amount of electricity needed to heat water. The old dishwasher consumed 3.6 gallons of water per cycle. Multiply that amount of water by 116 cycles per day, on average, and about 660 gallons were used each day.

The new dishwasher uses only 0.94 gallons per cycle, for a new usage total of about 386 gallons of water per day.

On an average day, the solar collector, manufactured by Solar Panels Plus, can provide 240 gallons of heated water for this business, leaving only 146 gallons (rather than the previous 660 gallons) per day to be heated by the existing system.

The Outcome

The high-efficiency dishwasher and solar hot water pre-heater were installed by K-M Refrigeration at a project cost totaling $24,155.

“We have saved at least 20 percent on our power bill,” Dishman said.

The Savings

The estimated total energy savings of the project was 38,773 kilowatt-hours per year. The project’s energy savings are equivalent to the carbon offset of planting nearly seven-and-a-half acres of trees.

The Bottom Line

Idaho Power’s Custom Efficiency program provided Homestead Farms Restaurant with a $4,653 incentive for the energy efficient upgrades.

“We saved $250 per month on our electric bill,” Dishman said. “In addition, because we are using fewer water cycles, we’re also saving $200 a month in chemicals.”

If you are looking for similar energy-saving success for your business, Idaho Power can help. Idaho Power offers a complete suite of energy efficiency programs for commercial and industrial businesses.