With hairdryers roaring, tanning machines radiating heat and taps constantly running, salons may not strike you as the most energy-efficient places. Indeed, as millions of people regularly get haircuts and beauty treatments, so they come into contact with key environmental issues, ranging from water and energy use to toxic chemicals. We spoke to three salon managers who are leading the way in energy efficiency, and have found innovative ways to save while they deliver their essential services: Shaving the bills
Inverurie, in Aberdeenshire, is home to a 43-year-old salon that has become known for its no-stones-unturned approach to energy saving. Over the course of one year, Elan Hair Design reduced its bills from £6,100 to £792 after a retrofit back in 2011.
Lauren Milton, the salon co-ordinator, says: “The directors were down at a seminar and heard about the use of LED lighting and cutting the costs. They decided that the salon needed a refurbishment anyway, and looked into how we could generate our electricity and the different things we could use.”
The salon, which has a loyal customer base – one client has been coming for 42 years – welcomed PV (photovoltaic) panels, LED lighting and PIR switches (motion detectors). Water bills have also been shaved by 82% by replacing cotton towels with compostable ones. Says Milton: “After that, [energy saving] became kind of an obsession, we became passionate about it.”
Milton is also proud that their landfill use has gone down by 95%, as old hair is now taken away and sent off to an energy from waste plant.
The energy-saving salon looks further than its bottom line in its approach, and has taken on a wider, educational role in the community. “I think people do learn something when they come. We spend a lot of one-to-one time with clients – it does rub off,” says Milton.
She adds: “For us it’s been relatively easy. The initial investment was quite a lot but even the small things like recycling or just turning off the water between shampoos make a difference.
If a good percentage of salons did some of what we do then it would make a huge difference.” New technology
It was another refit, this time in Oxford, that led to new initiatives for saving energy at Anne Veck Hair. The salon, which has been trading at the same premises for 23 years, was due a refit as it had been around seven years since the last one, says managing director Keith Mellon. “We wanted to refit and redesign the salon to make it look fantastic,” he says, “at the same time, we wanted to be as green as possible. Of course we were aware that if we could get that right then we could also save a substantial amount.”
Mellon’s answer came in the form of BlueGen ceramic fuel cell technology. The BlueGen runs off the gas supply to generate electricity, and because it is so energy-efficient, Anne Veck qualifies for the feed-in tariff scheme.
Mellon says: “As far as I am aware we are the only hair or beauty salon that has a BlueGen. It is great for hair salons because it generates heat as a by-product and that heat is expelled from the BlueGen in the form of hot water. On a quiet to medium day that gives us a whole day’s worth of hot water. My last monthly bill for electricity was £15.71 – it is virtually free.”
As part of the refit, the salon also replaced a 10-year-old boiler with a new one, installed LED lighting, replaced cotton towels with biodegradable ones, and installed larger windows to increase the natural light coming in. Location, location, location
Eternal Beauty Salon, based in the heart of Chesterfield, offers a range of beauty treatments including facials, nail treatments and tanning. However, while expanding your offerings is positive, it also involves a steady stream of new equipment, that, used on a daily basis, will rack up the energy bills.
“From the UV lights we use to cure gel nails to the compressors in our spray tan unit, many of our treatments involve the use of an electrical machine. We also need to have our PC, monitor and modem running all day to liaise with customers and to organise bookings quickly and easily,” says manager Lisa Rawson.
Due to the salon’s location in a pedestrianised market town, the picturesque, heavy stone paving meant it would not be possible to introduce a new gas supply to the property in a bid to keep costs down.
Rawson says: “We had to opt for an electrical-based heating system, which pumps water into radiators around the building, a less cost-efficient alternative to gas. Because of that we needed an energy supplier which would be able to help us keep costs as low as possible. We chose E.ON as they’ve taken the time to listen and find the best solutions for our needs.”
When Rawson first opened the salon, it had no thermostat in place to control the heating, and the boiler would automatically shut down once the radiators had heated up to a certain level. To combat this, the salon has started using one of E.ON’s Business Energy Manager (BEM) monitors as well as a wireless thermostat. She says: “Both have given us increased flexibility around how we use energy as well as providing us with valuable information about the amount of energy we use.”
Now Eternal Beauty Salon is able to review how much energy they are using on a day-to-day basis. “By being able to monitor our consumption in this way, I can keep an eye on our costs, helping us to avoid any unexpectedly large bills at the end of the month,” says Rawson.
“Through the tools E.ON have made available for monitoring energy consumption, we have seen our bills reduce by about 20% overall, saving us about £300 a year.” Content on this page is paid for and produced to a brief agreed with E.ON, sponsor of the Efficiency hub
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