WELCOME TO THE THREE MOLES
Est. 1872
At The Three Moles, we are committed to doing everything we can for the environment. We continually monitor our energy usage including; electricity, heating oil and gas. Pubs by their nature are energy thirsty. The two areas of our business that use the most energy are our cellar and our kitchen.
Where is most of our energy and water used?
The Cellar and the Kitchen are the two biggest users of energy at The Three Moles with the kitchen, bar and toilets using the most water.
The cellar has to be kept at 12 degrees 24/7 to maintain the quality of the beer, so the main cooler has to be kept running at all times. Products such as Lager, Cider and Guinness are all served extra cold, which means they are dispensed at 3-5 degrees so they go through a separate cooler outside of the cellar to take them down from 12 degrees. This cooler historically has been left running 24/7 however we now have a smart timer to turn it off overnight when it doesn't need to be running. The ice bank maintains the temperature overnight and quickly gets back to the correct temperature when it turns back on in the morning, meaning that there is no impact on the beers. The same applies to other equipment such as the post mix cooler which provides our draught soft drinks. By using the smart coolers, we have managed to cut energy usage as much as possible in the cellar.
The kitchen also uses a lot of energy - ovens, fryers, grills, pizza ovens, heat lamps, fridges, freezers and much more. We ensure that our staff turn off anything that doesn't need to be on - for example heat lamps only need to be used whilst there is food to be kept hot before going out to a table, we have 2 pizza ovens so only have 1 on unless we expect to be particularly busy and extractor fans are turned off when not required. This is regularly monitored to ensure we are always using as little energy as possible. The kitchen also uses a fair amount of water (hand washing, washing up etc) however we use as little as we can. Like all commercial dishwashers, our dishwasher uses a certain amount of recycled water for the main wash before using fresh water to rinse.
The bar uses water for the ice machine, glass washer, hand washing and the draught soft drinks, as well as drinking water of course. Like the dishwasher, the glass washer uses a certain amount of recycled water to cut down on use.
The use of water in the toilets is unavoidable, however we have minimised use by manually flushing the urinals when required, rather than them flushing multiple times a day and night, even when not being used. We have also fitted devices to allow short flushes on the toilets.
What are we doing to reduce energy and water use?
Whilst there are some areas that we simply cannot cut usage, where opportunities are identified, they are actioned as soon as possible. For example, whilst we are open, it is essential to have lights on.
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Every light bulb has been replaced with LED bulbs.
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We have smart timers fitted to various equipment such as beer line coolers and bottle fridges.
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We now store all our spare bottled drinks and wine in our cellar which not only pre-cools them before being moved into the bottle fridges, thus saving energy in the fridge, but it also helps to maintain the temperature in the cellar, meaning that the cooler runs less frequently.
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Our car park lighting and gates are solar powered.
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As we are off grid, we have to use heating oil to provide heating and hot water for the building. A new energy efficient boiler was installed in 2021, using blue flame technology which is far more efficient than standard orange flame boilers. This new boiler has cut our heating oil usage by around 1000 litres per year.
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All our radiators are fitted with individual thermostats.
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We turned down the main thermostat by 1 degree which has made no noticeable impact to the temperature in the pub, however it has cut oil and electricity usage.
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We have added additional insulation in the cellar.
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We have added secondary glazing or double glazing to a number of windows.
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Insulation added in the loft space.
Our plan to reduce energy and water usage further.
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Installing further secondary glazing and double glazing to remaining windows.
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Adding insulation behind the external hanging tiles on the front and side walls.
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Adding motion sensors to toilet lights.
Our energy consumption.
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Jan 21 to July 21 - 10080 units (* impacted by COVID-19 lockdowns)
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July 21 to Jan 22 - 19734 units
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Jan 22 to July 22 - 18593 units
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July 22 to Jan 23 - 16406 units
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Jan 23 to July 23 - 12996 units
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July 23 to Jan 24 -
Waste Information.
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Oils and fats - these are all collected and stored before being sent to approved recycling facilities.
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Recycling - Glass, plastic, cardboard and everything else that can be recycled, is recycled. Cardboard is often taken by our locals to use in their gardens and allotments - if you would like some, let us know!
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We do not order anything that is single use plastic and we also try to order products that come in boxes rather than plastic wrapping where possible.
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Waste - our general waste is collected by Chichester District Council.
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Food waste - at the moment this has to go into the general waste, however we are eagerly awaiting the imminent launch of the Chichester District Council, in partnership with West Sussex County Council, food waste collection service.
Green South Downs.
Being in the heart of the South Downs National Park is a fantastic place to be, and we care a great deal about our surroundings. We support and promote the national park and its initiatives whenever we can.
We have recently been selected to take part in a trial with the South Downs National Park Authority - Our South Downs - which created an innovative network for businesses and organisations to connect with each other, share services and products and work together towards sustainability.
Find out more here.
