26 Maritim Hotels switched to Cheetah: energy costs reduced by up to 50%

22-06-2017 | Some air conditioners have a similar principle: the ventilation is controlled automatically and based on demand. The Cheetah system from Sprinx Deutschland GmbH is comparable. In large kitchens the ventilation runs all day and night, even when there is no cooking activity. By installing sensors, Cheetah detects the amount of steam and automatically adjusts the speed of the ventilation motors to the required level. Only during actual cooking activity the ventilation runs at maximum power. Conversely, if the cooking activity is low, the exhaust air is adjusted downwards so that no energy is wasted.

The Maritim Hotelgesellschaft now uses this system in almost all Maritim hotels in Germany. Kitchen ventilation is one of the most energy-intensive systems in large kitchens. Sprinx Deutschland GmbH's demand-oriented control system ensures that the systems save energy by means of optical and thermal sensors. The energy consumption of the kitchen ventilation has been reduced by up to 50% in Maritim hotels. A total of just under 2 million kWh is saved every year.

Save energy and costs with Cheetah

Sustainability plays an important role at Maritim Hotels. For years, the hotel chain has developed an environmental guideline, which includes the efficient use of energy. As part of the ecological optimisation of the Maritim Hotels, the Cheetah system was installed in 2015 in seven hotels and 2016 in a further 19 hotels.

The awarding of successive orders is certainly due to the quality of the system, but also to the good service that Sprinx has been doing for years. Ulrich Geilen, Energy Manager at the Maritim Hotelgesellschaft, says: "The Cheetah system has achieved impressive savings for us and has made a significant contribution to achieving our fair play goals. Sprinx was also able to score with their reliable customer service. "

The use of a demand-oriented control system does not only save on electricity consumption. Because of the reduced air volume, less conditioned air is supplied which results in additional savings on heating and cooling costs. Retrofitting is carried out after careful consideration of the on-site situation. In the course of the subsequent installation, valid VDI guidelines and DIN standards are complied with. The sensors used for Cheetah are specially designed for the large kitchen area, i.e. equipped with stainless steel housing and shielded cables.

Payback almost under one year

The Maritim Hotel Düsseldorf is the largest conference hotel in North Rhine-Westphalia. It has direct access to the airport terminal and has 533 rooms and suites. In February 2015, Cheetah was installed here in the open bistro kitchen and in the main kitchen. The ventilation of the open kitchen in the restaurant had to be carefully adjusted by Sprinx in order to avoid any disturbances for the guests through kitchen odour in the restaurant.

In addition, there was a challenge in balancing several exhaust systems with only one supply system to create a slight vacuum-pressure towards the lobby. The electricity consumption decreased by more than 70% and the heating consumption by almost 33%. The system was paid back in less than a year. Johann Prokscha, Technical Director Maritim Hotel Düsseldorf: "The installation went smoothly. We are very satisfied with the savings achieved."

Top-selling retrofit system

Not only Maritim relies on this retrofit, but other leading hotel chains have also decided to use Cheetah's sustainability and cost management concept, which is now the best-selling retrofit system for kitchen ventilation in Germany. Cheetah can be installed in all existing and new large kitchens, reduces the energy consumption immediately after installation and thus immediately reduces the running costs.

As the installation work is carried out at night, there is no disturbance of the kitchen activities. The system is connected to existing frequency drives. If an installation does not have frequency drives, these are retrofitted as part of the Cheetah installation. Cheetah can be integrated into all existing building management systems (BMS).