With care home providers facing soaring energy costs, Forbes Professional advises on how to optimise laundry room efficiency.

Facing unprecedented energy costs and an increasingly pressing climate crisis, care home operators are all aiming to minimise energy consumption. According to the Carbon Trust, the care sector spends over £400 million on energy each year and after heating and lighting, it is irrefutable that appliances are a main contributor to this figure. For any care home, laundry is a key service area and one that is absolutely critical to maintaining infection control.  Thankfully, whereas you can’t turn down the heating in a care environment, or turn off the lighting, there are ways in which you can significantly reduce the energy consumed by your laundry function. Forbes Professional helps care home operators source the most energy, water and user efficient laundry solutions whilst advising on all relevant WRAS and industry requirements.

When choosing dryers, it is notable that care homes are increasingly turning away from gas appliances due to increasing running costs and safety concerns. This is all the more notable now that changes to industry requirements are necessitating considerable investment in order for gas appliances to meet the current standards. Forbes would generally recommend that electrical appliances should be the product of choice, with heat pump dryers enabling astounding cost and energy savings. Miele’s new heat pump commercial dryers are particularly highly rated for their safety, functionality and energy efficiency. They employ a highly efficient and economical filter system and heat exchanger to keep run times low and enable an energy saving of up to 60% when compared to vented dryers. Additionally, these heat pump dryers do not require any make-up air, which enables the laundry function to be installed in the basement or in a central location within the care-home and saves on costly vent-ducting. Due to the effective interaction of the Miele filter system and the maintenance-free heat exchanger, fluff cannot clog the heat exchanger or adversely affect the exceptional drying efficiency.

With regards to washing machines, only a commercial washing machine will suffice in a care environment as only these machines will meet the WRAS requirements for Fluid Category 5.  Forbes recommends using Miele commercial washing machines as they are highly energy and water efficient whilst delivering both thermal and sluice disinfection. As an illustrative example, based on an electricity cost of £0.34/kWh and three washing machines being used four times/ day for five years, Miele PW6080 washers can realise a running cost saving of £9,529 when compared to another industry brand.

Auto-dosing equipment also provides a great solution for ensuring that the right amount of detergent is dispensed for each cycle; minimising waste, optimising the wash cycle and saving both money and time.

Forbes Professional provides a range of options for commercial laundry equipment, including auto-dosing equipment as well as Miele commercial laundry machines. All of their products are available on a purchase, rental or lease basis, with access to a comprehensive service that includes installation, commissioning, user-training and a multi-award winning repair and maintenance response.

For more info, contact: forbespro.co.uk; 0345 0702335; info@forbes-professional.co.uk