It seems that in the holiday hubbub, an important event has passed virtually unnoticed…as of January 1, 2008, “Commercial Ice Machines” has become an official Energy Star category in the area of commercial foodservice.  (They join dishwashers, fryers, hot food holding cabinets, refrigerators/freezers, and steam cookers.)

Here at Serv-U, we’ve been looking forward to this day for some time.  Now if you head on over to Serv-U’s ice machine offerings, you will find all Energy Star ice machines marked as such in the department page and you will also see the Energy Star logo on the product pages of those machines that made the cut.  (NOTE: Only air-cooled machines are Energy Star-qualified.)

This is just one more area where you can find energy savings for your business; Energy Star qualified ice machines are on average 15% more energy efficient than standard models.  They also save money on water, as they are about 10% more water efficient than standard ice machines.  Like other Energy Star-qualified products, an Energy Star ice machine will almost definitely save you money over the life of the equipment.  To get an idea of how much money you can save by purchasing an Energy Star ice machine over a standard model, try out Energy Star’s life cycle cost calculator.

Just click the “Assumptions” tab at the bottom of the calculator and change the information there to fit your scenario (example: change prices to reflect the models you are considering).  Then, click back to the “Commercial Ice Machine Calc” tab to see what your savings could be.

Add to that the incentives you might be eligible for over at Serv-U’s efficiency incentives page, and buying energy efficient equipment looks better and better.