Commercial kitchen heat recovery systems
Restaurant energy efficiency systems can capture thermal energy from kitchen exhaust and reuse it for an approved demand such as hot water, makeup air, or another heating load.
Kitchen exhaust heat recovery for grease laden airstreams
The opportunity depends on the exhaust temperature, hours, airflow, heat demands, layout, and local energy costs.
Kitchen exhaust heat recovery has historically been challenging because grease, moisture, and particles can accumulate on dense heat transfer surfaces. Lepido® technology was originally developed in Sweden for demanding restaurant and commercial kitchen exhaust. Its open, finless geometry is designed to encourage contaminants to pass through rather than progressively block airflow.
Separate the exhaust from the load
A closed fluid circuit transfers recovered energy to the delivery side without mixing kitchen exhaust with the receiving water or air.
This architecture can support recovery from greasy kitchen exhaust while maintaining physical separation between the source and the useful load.
Waste heat recovery solutions across industries
Wherever hot exhaust and a useful thermal demand exist, there may be an opportunity to recover and reuse that energy. ThermStar™ applies the same assessment process across industries to identify the strongest opportunities. From a single exhaust source to a multi-facility network, the system can be configured around the application.
Industrial Laundry
Recover heat from lint laden dryer exhaust and cut natural gas costs. Built for the conditions that make conventional laundry heat recovery fail.
Food Manufacturing
Recover energy from oven, cooking and process exhaust in food manufacturing, including humid and particulate laden streams that foul conventional units.
Pet Food Manufacturing
Extrusion, drying and rendering exhaust carries recoverable energy along with moisture and particulate. See how ThermStar handles these conditions.
Foundries
Recover useful thermal energy from furnace and process exhaust in foundry operations, in conditions where conventional recovery is hard to maintain.
Manufacturing
Turn exhausted thermal energy into lower operating costs and reduced emissions across manufacturing operations and multiple facility networks.
Restaurants & Commercial Kitchens
Grease laden kitchen exhaust carries energy worth recovering. The technology behind ThermStar was developed for exactly these conditions.
Measure the business case
Commercial kitchen energy savings depend on useful energy delivered and the cost of the energy displaced. A strong assessment considers meal volume, exhaust operation, hot water or air demand, equipment, space, installation, maintenance, and potential program support. ThermStar can help identify the information needed for a preliminary case.
Commercial facility applications
Commercial energy efficiency opportunities may exist in individual restaurants, institutional kitchens, hospitality facilities, food service groups, and other operations with repeated kitchen loads. A multi location organization can screen several sites to identify the strongest candidates before committing to detailed evaluation.
Start with a short screen
Describe the kitchen, operating hours, exhaust equipment, and potential heat demand. ThermStar will determine whether the application appears suitable and what technical data should be reviewed next.
What happens next
A first conversation helps ThermStar understand the operating goal, the facility context, and the people involved in the decision.
From there, the team can identify the smallest useful information request and determine whether a screen, technical review, partner discussion, or document request is appropriate.
This approach keeps the process proportionate to the opportunity while giving operations, finance, engineering, health and safety, and sustainability stakeholders clear information for the next decision.
What makes a commercial kitchen heat recovery project viable
The strongest candidates have a consistent thermal source, a productive receiving load, useful temperature alignment, overlapping operating hours, workable integration, and enough displaced energy value to support the project. A high exhaust temperature by itself is not sufficient.
What can recovered kitchen exhaust heat be used for
Possible uses include approved process air, makeup air, process water, domestic hot water, boiler feedwater, and other thermal demands. The selected use must be compatible with the available temperature, capacity, schedule, location, controls, and facility requirements.
Can several restaurant or kitchen sites be evaluated together
Yes. An organization can begin with a portfolio screen using consistent information from multiple sites. ThermStar can help identify which locations deserve deeper review. Findings from one project may inform later work, but each facility still requires confirmation.
How are restaurant energy savings confirmed
Savings are based on useful recovered energy and the energy it displaces. A project specific method may use temperature, fluid flow, operating time, equipment status, baseline efficiency, and approved conversion factors. Actual reporting depends on the installed monitoring and any utility or internal requirements.