[Tristan R Clean]

You guys who use hot water.
What are your extra monthly costs per month over a year period? Including cost of machine and servicing, parts etc.

Thanks
Tristan

[dazmond]

around £900 a year extra in diesel(it used to be £40 a month using cold water now its around £120 per month).diesel heater with smart charger,controller,batteries,etc plus fitting and VAT cost me £4,500 ......i fully expect the system to last me at least 10 years so over that time it would work out at  £450 per year

diesel........£900
system.....£450

so an extra £1350 per year..........£112-50 per month,£26 per week........

servicing/parts etc i cant calculate as not needed to yet,some diesel heater users have had their systems over 4 years and have not had them serviced at all or replaced any parts......

[dazmond]

£26 per week doesnt sound bad does it? to use hot water all day every day,no changing gas bottles or faffing about with gas(never mind the dangers),no worries on freezing nights in winter(frost stat feature)so i dont have to remember to put an oil filled radiator in the van overnight.....

i love mine and use it every day......

ok i will have to change the screen and pin one day and change the batteries(this goes for cold systems too) but that could be years away yet.......

how long does it take to earn £26?30 mins?40 mins?

[Smudger]

That's only if it lasts 10 years
I think 5 to 6 years would be more realistic
Longer is a bonus

Darran

[The Jester of Wibbly]

I predict another repeat of the usual weekly debate 

[dazmond]

That's only if it lasts 10 years
I think 5 to 6 years would be more realistic
Longer is a bonus

Darran

nigel had his 5kw diesel heater for 10+ years from varitech.......narrowboat webasto users even longer,one of my customers has a  webasto that is over 15 years old......

obviously i will need some sort of servicing over a 10 year period and maybe the odd part but i wont need to buy the whole heater again in that time!

[P @ F]

You better touch a wooden object quick Daz 

[Dave Willis]

One does often ponder the virtues of said hot water systems that ones pertain to use but speaking for oneself I have often thought the initial costs far too prohibitive thus I have converted the rear of my vehicle into a large water boiler by the simple installation of a thermostatic heating element thus producing tepid water through the hours after midnight. This gives me the added advantage to burn through impacted soilage and concrete.

Ones that do use manufactured units supplied by the likes of Grippatank etc. Obviously pay a premium over said immersion operatives that takes twenty years to recoup to a degree. However, I digress and would indicate my own system probably cost approximately in the region of fifty pounds and sixty pence including a pot of Plumbers mate found languishing in the far reaches of said garage.

I have ascertained that the warmer temperature certainly improves cleaning efficiency on various substrates at a vastly reduced cost to others using professionaly fitted devices costing well in excess of four thousand pounds.

Hope I’ve made myself clear?

[G Griffin]

One does often ponder the virtues of said hot water systems that ones pertain to use but speaking for oneself I have often thought the initial costs far too prohibitive thus I have converted the rear of my vehicle into a large water boiler by the simple installation of a thermostatic heating element thus producing tepid water through the hours after midnight. This gives me the added advantage to burn through impacted soilage and concrete. Ones that do use manufactured units supplied by the likes of Grippatank etc. Obviously pay a premium over said immersion operatives that takes twenty years to recoup to a degree. However, I digress and would indicate my own system probably cost approximately in the region of fifty pounds and sixty pence including a pot of Plumbers mate found languishing in the far reaches of said garage. I have ascertained that the warmer temperature certainly improves cleaning efficiency on various substrates at a vastly reduced cost to others using professionaly fitted devices costing well in excess of four thousand pounds.
Hope I’ve made myself clear?

Crystal 😆.

[P @ F]

Would have been way clearer with hotter water of course , but I do get the drift 

[dazmond]

each to their own.....do what you want......even if it costs me £1500 a year(diesel to heat water,cost of system over 10 years and parts,servicing,etc)....its only money.....we ll all be dead in a few years anyway.....

if i was a 25k a year window cleaner i wouldnt have bought a diesel heater...too expensive but im not.....im a £45k a year window cleaner(at present)and my earnings are just gonna go up year on year in the future.....

[P @ F]

I don’t earn 25K a year but I do have a diesel heater 

[P @ F]

Which incidentally broke down the other day , cost me a bloody arm and a leg to fix the thing .
£14 for a glow plug   

[P @ F]

But back to topic , mine cost £250 for the machine and £2.50 a day to run , as for parts I now have a UK supplier , here is a small selection of consumables in the event of a Daz !

[dazmond]

nice one richy.......but i couldnt be arsed with the constant fiddling with the cheap diesel heaters breaking down and replacing parts all the time,i had enough with the cheap gas shower heaters and the constant faffing about with that and changing gas bottles......

at least now i just press a button and it works and i can get on with cleaning with no faffing.......

[Tristan R Clean]

Thanks fellas for the replies.

I ask because i have run gas boilers which do get the water hot.

I also have an immersion in my storage tank in the garage(wired up properly on 16amp with rcd)
This keeps me running over the colder frosty months.

I live on the coast with lots of salty windows coated in seagull cak.

i have just gone round with a customer price increase.
But am thinking of raising a bit more in time.
If Dazs calculations are correct this could pay for itself soon rather than being a luxury as i know some say it is.

Tris

[Tristan R Clean]

I was meant to say i was thinking of investing in a grippatank or purefreedom 9kw heater

[P @ F]

If the round is like that matey it’s a no brainer for a decent diesel setup , coastal work is reason enough to spend the money out !

[P @ F]

Now now Daz !
My cheap diesel has let me down once in 6 months and with only a glow plug failure at that, which was my fault as I am combustion tuning it at the moment , they are only meant to run at 5.5Hz tops , my controller lets me crank it up to 8 Hz so I banged it up to 7 Hz and was getting 60c on demand , sadly it melted the tip of the plug 
Only one way to learn and all that 

[AuRavelling79]

One does often ponder the virtues of said hot water systems that ones pertain to use but speaking for oneself I have often thought the initial costs far too prohibitive thus I have converted the rear of my vehicle into a large water boiler by the simple installation of a thermostatic heating element thus producing tepid water through the hours after midnight. This gives me the added advantage to burn through impacted soilage and concrete.

Ones that do use manufactured units supplied by the likes of Grippatank etc. Obviously pay a premium over said immersion operatives that takes twenty years to recoup to a degree. However, I digress and would indicate my own system probably cost approximately in the region of fifty pounds and sixty pence including a pot of Plumbers mate found languishing in the far reaches of said garage.

I have ascertained that the warmer temperature certainly improves cleaning efficiency on various substrates at a vastly reduced cost to others using professionaly fitted devices costing well in excess of four thousand pounds.

Hope I’ve made myself clear?

Please forgive me for ...

1. Putting paragraph breaks in your post to make it easier to read. It was so good I thought some of the less literate readers among us might be put off with such a chunk of text.

2. "Liking" your post.

3. Agreeing with it completely as I have found the same except my heating element from Tool Station was less than £30 and has been in place for seven years. However my bro. put in 16 amp sockets which sum of money escapes me although the labour was done in return for a conservatory clean.

4. Showing that a total of (say) £100 all in divided by 7 years = just over £14.00 per year, £1.20 per month, 30p per week ... plus electrickery supplied of course.

[dazmond]

Now now Daz !
My cheap diesel has let me down once in 6 months and with only a glow plug failure at that, which was my fault as I am combustion tuning it at the moment , they are only meant to run at 5.5Hz tops , my controller lets me crank it up to 8 Hz so I banged it up to 7 Hz and was getting 60c on demand , sadly it melted the tip of the plug 
Only one way to learn and all that 

fair play richy......i know your a tinkerer,its people like you who end up coming up with new ideas and inventions.....im not,i havent got the talent,interest or inclination....im just an animal who cleans windows,lifts weights and bashes drums......

[dazmond]

Thanks fellas for the replies.

I ask because i have run gas boilers which do get the water hot.

I also have an immersion in my storage tank in the garage(wired up properly on 16amp with rcd)
This keeps me running over the colder frosty months.

I live on the coast with lots of salty windows coated in seagull cak.

i have just gone round with a customer price increase.
But am thinking of raising a bit more in time.
If Dazs calculations are correct this could pay for itself soon rather than being a luxury as i know some say it is.

Tris

this is my findings after 18 months of using a diesel heater tris......

if your getting a brand new one fitted by the likes of grippatank i would install it into a new van(or nearly new)that you plan on keeping for many years....

it was a 25th anniversary present to myself....i also used to use gas heaters.......diesel is so much safer and more reliable!PLUS you dont have to worry about anything freezing in winter as they come with a frost stat feature built in if you get a grippa heater.....

also no more unscrewing the drain screw on cold nights or heater going out on a windy day!,no more changing gas bottles!bliss.....just press a button before you set off for work in the morning and you ve got hot water for your first job of the day......

[Dave Willis]

I can make a window to discuss your 21st Century asset innovation.

[Dry Clean]

each to their own.....do what you want......even if it costs me £1500 a year(diesel to heat water,cost of system over 10 years and parts,servicing,etc)....its only money.....we ll all be dead in a few years anyway.....

if i was a 25k a year window cleaner i wouldnt have bought a diesel heater...too expensive but im not.....im a £45k a year window cleaner(at present)and my earnings are just gonna go up year on year in the future.....

[Ralphie]

But back to topic , mine cost £250 for the machine and £2.50 a day to run , as for parts I now have a UK supplier , here is a small selection of consumables in the event of a Daz !

Not too good on social media so how do I look them up on FB

[Dry Clean]

Thanks fellas for the replies.

I ask because i have run gas boilers which do get the water hot.

I also have an immersion in my storage tank in the garage(wired up properly on 16amp with rcd)
This keeps me running over the colder frosty months.

I live on the coast with lots of salty windows coated in seagull cak.

i have just gone round with a customer price increase.
But am thinking of raising a bit more in time.
If Dazs calculations are correct this could pay for itself soon rather than being a luxury as i know some say it is.

Tris

Tris it makes a welcome change to read a post from somebody that could actually benefit from using hot, personally I wouldn't listen to the hobby shiners on here, take a business approach and do a time and motion study to compare the time and effort saving/difference using both cold and hot, from that you could work out if the diesel heater is cost effective.

[P @ F]

But back to topic , mine cost £250 for the machine and £2.50 a day to run , as for parts I now have a UK supplier , here is a small selection of consumables in the event of a Daz !

Not too good on social media so how do I look them up on FB

Just search “Diesel keep you warm”
However the original heater has been converted , it’s not an out of the box job !

[Ralphie]

Cheers

[NWH]

I had my 5kw heater for nearly 13 years yes and the only reason it ever stopped working was due to battery issues,I changed the burner once at 12 years but to be honest only did it because I thought this was due to lack of temperature is was giving me on on the water side of things.
Well worth the money as I’ve said countless times I will be getting mine serviced due to it being under warranty once a year though,my recommendation would be definitely get the 9kw heater or the 2 man it sometimes goes as,the water is piping hot and I mean to hot to change the brush head on the end of the gooseneck with the water coming out the jets and going over you’re fingers.

[dazmond]

another thing very hot pure water is good for.....cleaning off leaves stuck to windows and bird muck on frames,as im 2 weeks behind my usual schedule theres quite a lot of this on my customers windows....it used to take me ages scrubbing them with cold water! ...tomorrow ive also got one of the worst first cleans  to do on a new job i picked up today,their minging!