Certo › Learn › Energy Costs for Salons and Gyms: What Drives Them and How to Lower Them

Energy Costs for Salons and Gyms: What Drives Them and How to Lower Them

Salons: hot water and heat-generating equipment

A salon's energy footprint is unusually concentrated in a few specific loads: hot water for washing and processing, blow dryers and styling tools that draw significant power while in near-constant use during business hours, and often specialized equipment for coloring, processing, or nail services. That equipment also throws off heat, which pushes up the HVAC load needed to keep the space comfortable — a busy salon on a summer afternoon is fighting equipment heat, body heat from stylists and clients, and the outdoor temperature all at once.

Gyms: HVAC against a heavy heat load, plus equipment and hours

A gym has to manage two heat sources most businesses don't: the equipment itself (cardio machines, especially, generate real heat) and a large number of people actively exercising, which produces far more body heat than the same square footage occupied by people sitting still. Combine that with gyms commonly operating extended or 24-hour schedules, and HVAC becomes a much larger, more continuous cost than in a typical retail space of the same size. Cardio equipment displays, lighting across the floor, and hot water for showers and locker rooms add meaningfully on top of HVAC.

Cost-saving levers for salons

Roughly in order of best payback for the effort involved:

• Water heater efficiency and scheduling (low cost, fast payback). A tank set hotter than needed, or one that runs at full temperature overnight when the salon is closed, is straightforward waste to fix with a timer or a lower setpoint.
• Staggering high-draw styling equipment (no cost). Spreading dryer and processing equipment use across the day rather than letting every station run at once during a rush smooths out the peak that can trigger a demand charge.
• LED conversion for styling-station lighting (low-to-moderate cost). Salons often run bright task lighting for long hours; LED fixtures cut that cost with no change to how the space looks or feels for clients.
• HVAC tuning around equipment heat (low cost). Because equipment adds real heat load, a thermostat schedule that accounts for busy vs. slow periods can avoid overcooling during quieter stretches.

Cost-saving levers for gyms

Roughly in order of best payback for the effort involved:

• HVAC scheduling around actual occupancy hours (low cost, often the biggest fix). A 24-hour gym doesn't need full HVAC output during its lowest-traffic overnight hours — tying the schedule to actual occupancy patterns is usually the single highest-leverage change.
• LED conversion across the floor (low-to-moderate cost). Large open floor spaces with long operating hours make lighting a bigger share of the bill than in a typical retail space, and a fast, predictable payback.
• Cardio equipment power management (low cost). Machines left powered on and displays lit overnight add up across dozens of units; sleep settings or a simple end-of-day power-down routine capture that waste.
• Staggering major loads during peak hours (no cost). Avoiding simultaneous full HVAC, full lighting, and hot water demand during the busiest evening rush smooths the demand peak.

How demand charges show up

Larger salon and gym locations on commercial rate structures can see demand charges triggered by predictable rush periods — a Saturday morning at a salon with every station running, or a weekday evening at a gym with the floor full and HVAC working hardest. In both cases, the fix isn't reducing total energy used but smoothing out how much draws at once during those peak windows.

Frequently asked questions