How Elta Helped to Slice Pizza Hut’s Energy Bills

Pizza Hut is unsurprisingly one of the most famous pizza chains in the world – after all, what’s not to love about delicious dough and a mountain of mozzarella? However, with over 250 UK restaurants across a variety of different buildings, its facilities management team understandably has its work cut out in trying to keep energy costs down. So when I was tasked with upgrading the ventilation system at one of its busiest sites, I knew Elta would be right for the job…

Pizza Hut has been around for a long time (45 years in the UK), so it’s no surprise that some of its restaurants are located in older buildings. But with dated buildings comes dated ventilation systems, and several sites were experiencing breakdowns and occasional temporary restaurant closures. Businesses in the leisure industry simply cannot afford for this to happen, never mind customers who have their minds set on doughy goodness!

Myself and the GFMS Services Limited team set about reviewing the ventilation systems across Pizza Hut sites that had a track record of extraction system failures. One particular restaurant that stood out was located at Royale Leisure Park, on Western Avenue in London. This is a busy site, receiving plenty of customers who’ve built up an appetite at nearby shops.

Food for thought

A busy restaurant means a busy kitchen, with deep fat fryers and ovens producing a tremendous amount of heat, fumes, and vapour. Ventilation is clearly very important, and the restaurant’s 15-year-old system was definitely in need of an upgrade.

The existing fan, which featured a forward curved impeller, needed to be replaced.  The design of the old ventilation system meant that it was operating at a lower pressure and high-volume flow, resulting in increased power consumption. This, coupled with numerous failures, was costing the site a significant amount of money.

Taking the heat

Enter the Elta QUBE Centrifugal Box Fan, chosen primarily for its high efficiency backward curve impeller. Thanks to its high-performance capabilities, it could easily cope with the demands of the busy kitchen, reducing energy costs by up to 10%.

The unit is also lightweight, slim, and waterproof, making it ideal for installations on roofs, as was the case with this project. Thankfully, the installation of the fan was completed from start to finish in just four and a half hours, minimising downtime and maximising pizza time.

Since introducing Elta’s QUBE Centrifugal Box Fan, Pizza Hut has experienced absolutely zero downtime. This has allowed it to keep its doors open to happy customers, saving thousands in energy bills and potential lost earnings from closure.

Marcus Sawkins, Project Manager at GFMS Services Limited