This week, we caught up with GridDuck’s very own Sales Manager, Miles Browne. Miles shares his insights on how hospitality businesses and consultants can save energy, findings from recent trials and different use cases for our technology.

Leah Barron Stevens: Thank you  for speaking with me today Miles. To begin with, for anybody that doesn’t know, what is our trial process with hospitality?

Miles Browne: We know what the key energy waste areas are within hospitality. For a GridDuck trial, what we do is connect our smart plugs to things like drink fridges, ice machines and other appliances that we know are responsible for energy waste. We then do one week of recording to gather the energy data for when operations are normal. 

We do a second week after applying our automations and by then, we can make a comparison between the two weeks. Hopefully, we can justify the cost of our system against the energy saved, and that’s really important: we want to prove to our customers that we have a system worth investing in.

LBS: Have you made our trial process easy  for consultants?

MB: Well, what's so great about the GridDuck system is the hardware is very easy to install. If we look specifically at smart plugs, it's so easy to get behind something like a drink fridge, ice machine or a whole variety of other assets to plug one in and record energy data. We can also interface with existing meters really easily. All that means is a consultant doesn't have to have much of a technical background to be able to integrate our hardware into a site.

LBS: how exactly can we save hospitality businesses money?

MB: So, with the increases in energy prices, that's obviously meant there's been an increase in how much energy represents within our hospitality businesses P&L. Previously, it wasn't as much as other things such as labor, incoming costs on beer and food etc. Now, with the changes in prices, energy is reportedly one of top cost concerns across the industry. 

Fortunately, because energy is becoming a much more expensive variable of the business, energy saving inherently means that you can save more money. So the GridDuck system finds energy waste and then you can set controls to automatically remove it.

LBS: What are the use cases of GridDuck for consultants working in hospitality? Obviously there's some variation in how you can use GridDuck as part of your sustainability strategy.

MB: Yeah. So on the one hand, there is the ability to gather data and as we all know, data is very valuable. Having data, you are able to make really informed decisions and in the context of sustainability and energy, you are able to understand where there are issues and how you can make improvements. So that's the first side of things. GridDuck can be a kind of catalyst for operational changes. 

The second angle is then obviously the controls, which allow you to automatically remove the energy waste. We also have an automatic reports function that the consultant can share with their client easily. It just means that the data is very digestible and very accessible, most importantly to all parties involved.

LBS: Do you have any examples of interesting data from recent trials?

MB: Yes. Quite frequently in bars and restaurants, you see these soda guns which work using  something called a rapid chiller. The soda comes in a syrup form and then mixes with carbonated water and it goes through a chiller which rapidly cools it, but these are left on all night. And when we connected them, we actually realized that they use a significant amount of energy! By automating them to turn off, you can save thousands of pounds a year.

LBS: Can you tell me some other surprising areas of utility waste you found in recent trials.

MB: I think something that's not thought about is the energy required to heat water. So if you monitor water consumption, you indirectly monitor energy use because with dishwashing etc, many hospitality businesses require a high proportion of their water to be highly heated. So for example, through monitoring your dishwashers or hot water tanks, you're actually able to track significant energy savings.

LBS: Can you see any new use cases for GridDuck within the hospitality sector?

MB: Now that we've got all three utilities onto our dashboard, gas, water and electricity, we're able to create an even clearer picture of businesses’ energy use. What's so great about the system is when a user has it they often find new uses for us. I don't necessarily think of anything myself but I'm sure no doubt there will be limitless other ways to use it. To learn how we’ve helped hospitality businesses so far, visit gridduck.com/sectors/hospitality.

LBS: What advice would you give to hospitality professionals that are concerned about rising energy costs and about how to become sustainable themselves?

MB: Well, the issue of climate change has not really been at the front of people's minds for a long time. And the cost of energy has previously been really low. It means that we use energy really, really inefficiently. So whilst we now have this looming prospect of rising energy and we need to reduce our emissions, it should be in some ways quite easy. To find those ways of saving, start with the correct insights and the correct tools to educate yourself as to what's going on in your business. Always start with data.

LBS: Finally then, what goals do you have for GridDuck within hospitality? What do you want to see happen in 2022?

MB: It’s pretty simple. We want to see more and more businesses taking on GridDuck and taking on a role to be more green. The ambition is for lots more hospitality chains and individual bars to adopt our GridDuck system and start saving energy and carbon today.