Clean It Up
UK Window Cleaning Forum => Window Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: paul ette on February 14, 2014, 10:14:33 pm
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so i bought a van thatts got a heated system in it, 400 litre, do heated systems use more water? can you clean more glass with the same amount of water with a heated system?
reason i ask is that the tank i have on my current van is 500.
also how much does gas cost roughly for a weeks work?
c l u e l e s s
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No no water is water. 8)
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so you dont use more more or less
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Ever so slightly less in my experience.
Even if it used more, I'd still go hot. It's much nicer.
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Ever so slightly less in my experience.
Even if it used more, I'd still go hot. It's much nicer.
Makes sense if stubborn bird poo and algae comes away more quickly so you don't scrub for so long with the water flowing.
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Does anyone heat their water up in the tank if so how do you heat it up
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LPG hot water on demand.
Or immersion heater in the tank over night. Like a big kettle.
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Is that what you use jonny
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Is that what you use jonny
Yeah I use the lpg heater. But this year I'm going to fit an immersion aswell I think.
Good in the winter because instead of putting a heater in the van over night to stop pipes freezing, you just stick the immersion on, and you get hot water all day, plus will stop pipes freezing at night like a big radiator.
Immersion is cheaper than gas aswell.
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We heat our water overnight in ibc tanks - then pump into vans water stays hot all day
Darran
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We heat our water overnight in ibc tanks - then pump into vans water stays hot all day
Darran
Is it the fish tank heaters you use Darren? Or immersion?
Any links to what you use and what temps you can get the water to?
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Neither,I use these,
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Home-Garden-Portable-Travel-Hot-Water-Heater-Immersion-Element-Portable-Reheater-/400372810487?pt=UK_TravelTickets_Accessories_RL&var=&hash=item5d381442f7
They are suspended in the tank 1 in from the bottom I use 2 per 1000 ltr tank running them from midnight to 6 am gives me 35 degrees - now everything is sexy up inside the unit I now 'stir' the water for 1/2 hr every 2 hours using by booster pump.
Sunday I do eight hours as water is cold from sitting there Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Rest of the week the water remains warm even when topped up so in theory if I kept heating it I could get to 50 + degrees
I have found anything over 20 degrees is fine for what I want hot water for
Darran
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Neither,I use these,
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Home-Garden-Portable-Travel-Hot-Water-Heater-Immersion-Element-Portable-Reheater-/400372810487?pt=UK_TravelTickets_Accessories_RL&var=&hash=item5d381442f7
They are suspended in the tank 1 in from the bottom I use 2 per 1000 ltr tank running them from midnight to 6 am gives me 35 degrees - now everything is sexy up inside the unit I now 'stir' the water for 1/2 hr every 2 hours using by booster pump.
Sunday I do eight hours as water is cold from sitting there Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Rest of the week the water remains warm even when topped up so in theory if I kept heating it I could get to 50 + degrees
I have found anything over 20 degrees is fine for what I want hot water for
Darran
Nice one. Thanks Darren.
Any idea how much they cost to run?
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Whatever your cost per kilowatt per hr. Ie. night rate 7p per kW Two 1.5 kW heaters would equal 3 kW per hr. So 21p per hr x 6 hrs £1.21 per day ( Average )
1 kW heater would cost 7p per hr. I reckon that would heat 500 ltrs to 30 degrees over 8 hrs no problem
Darran
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Thanks Darren. Awesome.
When I use the lpg heater I only want the water to be about 30 degrees max anyway, but those heaters will be much more cost efficient.
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That's good value when you add on that its keeping the van frost free as well.
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That's good value when you add on that its keeping the van frost free as well.
Yeah that's it.
Two for the price of one!
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That's why I originally went down that route, it works well.
Now the vans are parked inside at night I don't have that problem ;D
Bear in mind that the colder it is the longer you may need the heaters on for to reach the same target temp.
But I still like some warmth to the water to keep all the hoses flexible etc..
Darran
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That's why I originally went down that route, it works well.
Now the vans are parked inside at night I don't have that problem ;D
Bear in mind that the colder it is the longer you may need the heaters on for to reach the same target temp.
But I still like some warmth to the water to keep all the hoses flexible etc..
Darran
I have just ordered 2 for my 650 tank, any ideas on how to stop them hitting the baffles?
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If it's a Wyvale tank you could drill a 10mm hole in the top and thread the cable through - I cable tied around the cable on the outside to leave it suspended around an inch from the bottom.
Where the lid is a great place to put a heater as well.
Darran
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If it's a Wyvale tank you could drill a 10mm hole in the top and thread the cable through - I cable tied around the cable on the outside to leave it suspended around an inch from the bottom.
Where the lid is a great place to put a heater as well.
Darran
;)
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so i bought a van thatts got a heated system in it, 400 litre, do heated systems use more water? can you clean more glass with the same amount of water with a heated system?
reason i ask is that the tank i have on my current van is 500.
also how much does gas cost roughly for a weeks work?
c l u e l e s s
I don't use hot water and I don't have a hot water system - yet.
I did rig up a diesel heater I have over Christmas on a test bench to see what I could expect.
I found that the heater raised the water temperature at the brush head from 9 degrees to 35 degrees. With the controller at the same speed (5 on my Varistream) the hot water out of the jets of the brush squirted much further than when the water was cold.
I found I had to turn my controller down to 3 to have the same rate of water coming out of the brush.
So in my experiment, had I stayed with the 5th speed, I would use more water because I can't wash and scrub the window fast enough to keep up with the extra flow. Rinsing was brilliant though with that extra flow of water. However if I turned my flow down, I think I would use the same amount of water.
But I wouldn't be a bit surprised if other factors would come into this as well.
'Fear' of breaking someone window with hot water may make you work faster.
Also seeing the actual cost of heating that water you are using may also increase your cleaning speed, especially if you are like me and tend to over clean.
You also may work faster because people tell you that you can do the same job quicker with hot water and you believe it.
Working with more flexible hoses does make your day easier. So this could also help you to do more work as you are spending less time with hose management.
I don't want to start a debate on whether hot water cleans better than cold water as I have no personal experience on the subject. What I do know is that I do spend too much time on each window.
Son in Law does more than twice the number of houses I do a day. Whilst his being 1/2 my age is a factor, he spends much less time on each window than I did when I did the work his is doing now. Initially I was appalled at how little time he spent on each house, so I did spot checks and can assure you they were perfect.
So even with cold water, your cleaning rate can be speeded up by not over cleaning.
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As always mate a fine post,
I don't really notice any 'better' cleaning with hot, your technique is your technique so the windows are around the same time, and no noticeable difference on green SFG Cleans either, but again our system to clean hot or cold is the same with application of g101 first.
For me the advantage is much, much easier use of hoses
Darran
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Neither,I use these,
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Home-Garden-Portable-Travel-Hot-Water-Heater-Immersion-Element-Portable-Reheater-/400372810487?pt=UK_TravelTickets_Accessories_RL&var=&hash=item5d381442f7
They are suspended in the tank 1 in from the bottom I use 2 per 1000 ltr tank running them from midnight to 6 am gives me 35 degrees - now everything is sexy up inside the unit I now 'stir' the water for 1/2 hr every 2 hours using by booster pump.
Sunday I do eight hours as water is cold from sitting there Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Rest of the week the water remains warm even when topped up so in theory if I kept heating it I could get to 50 + degrees
I have found anything over 20 degrees is fine for what I want hot water for
Darran
These are a great buy, I got two of these for my 650l tank and they arrived yesterday, popped them in my tank last night and water was nice and hot this morning. Thanks Smudger ;)
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No problem, happy to help