Propane is an excellent fuel source for a restaurant kitchen. It burns clean, which minimizes residue buildup on your commercial kitchen equipment, and it's also more efficient than using electricity.
With restaurants typically having low profit margins, it's important to look for any area where you can reduce your operating costs. Minimizing your propane costs is one area that's commonly overlooked by restaurant owners. Thankfully, the process is easy — read on to learn three ways that your restaurant can keep its propane delivery costs to a minimum.
1. Place a Meter on Your Propane Tank
One of the best ways to cut down on your restaurant's propane costs is to have your propane delivery company install a meter on your tank. The meter measures the amount of propane left in the tank, and refills will be automatically scheduled when you're at risk of running out.
Many restaurants rely on scheduled propane deliveries rather than delivering propane according to the level on the tank's meter. Unfortunately, this can result in overpaying for your propane — you'll pay delivery fees regardless of whether your restaurant needs more propane or not. Installing a meter on your propane tank allows you to eliminate unnecessary deliveries, which saves you money.
2. Track Your Restaurant's Propane Usage
For a restaurant, propane functions similarly to your inventory — you need enough propane and food to serve your dining guests, but you'll waste money by stocking up needlessly. For food, this comes in the form of spoilage. For propane, it comes in the form of repeated delivery fees.
Restaurants typically have granular levels of demand — holidays like Mother's Day and Easter, for example, can result in a rush of dining guests. Business often varies by season as well. When you have a meter installed on your propane tank, make sure that it can create reports that allow you to track your restaurant's energy usage. This data allows you to determine how much propane you'll need in the tank to successfully make it through a busy weekend or holiday. You'll be able to avoid stocking up on too much propane while ensuring that you'll have propane available when you need it.
3. Pre-Purchase Propane When Prices Are Low
A significant amount of propane demand is driven by residential heating. During the colder months, demand skyrockets when people need to use large quantities of propane to heat their homes. Propane prices rise as a result, which increases your restaurant's energy costs.
Thankfully, you can prevent this rise in operating costs by pre-purchasing propane in the summer. Propane prices are lowest during this time, and you'll be able to take advantage of them. While you'll need to set aside some revenue in the summer in order to make a large propane purchase, you'll reap the benefits in the form of lower energy costs during the coming winter.
Finally, you should periodically contact propane sales companies in your area to see who has the lowest prices. Make sure that you have your historical propane usage data close at hand when you do this — this includes both the amount of propane your restaurant uses along with how frequently you need propane to be delivered. Propane sales companies vary in how they price delivery fees along with the cost of the propane itself, so you may be able to find a better deal with a different propane delivery service based on the exact propane needs of your restaurant.
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