Fitting immersion heater

[spruce]

Thanks for the info Spruce.
And did someone really say ‘how can you clean pvc doors with cold water’?
17 years with the reach and wash cleaning pvc doors with cold water and never had an issue. Always come up lovely. Strange that!
Obviously the hot water debate is each to their own. I’m only considering it for the really cold few days of the year but after reading some of the posts I may just park the immersion idea for now and go full heat on demand or just stick to the cold.
Keep up with the constructive posts. Very helpful. Thanks

But the same poster also has a 'warehouse' full of "The Pink Stuff" he uses to clean everyone's front door. So what is it? Hot water or "The Pink Stuff" that makes the difference?
We also use that cleaner to scrub off any scuff marks on the front door and rinse it down with cold pure afterwards, and the door also looks good.

Diesel heaters are expensive to buy. It's much cheaper to fit an immersion heater, but that's not the end of it. A windie needs the right power point take off and the correct size extension cabling. If you fit a 3kw element, then you need an electrician to fit a 16amp (or larger) wall socket outside. If you fit a 2kw, then you still need an upgraded extension with a heavy-duty cable. I'm old school and some of the labelled cables they claim will support 13 amps scares me.

 

[Part Timer]

I may just park the immersion idea for now and go full heat on demand or just stick to the cold.

Just do it with the immersion, but only use the immersion when forecast is for really cold. Paying many thousands for a hot water system that you're only going to use on odd days is madness. I should know as that's what I did

 

[spruce]

Just do it with the immersion, but only use the immersion when forecast is for really cold. Paying many thousands for a hot water system that you're only going to use on odd days is madness. I should know as that's what I did

Sometimes we get dragged along with the hot water "flavour of the month" hype. I did.

Maybe my hot water isn't hot enough. But my experience is that a 9kw diesel heater will just comfortably keep up with both of our heat settings at around 55 degrees C.
I can't imagine a windie using an immersion heater will heat his water any more than 50 to 60 degrees C.

 

[Part Timer]

Sometimes we get dragged along with the hot water "flavour of the month" hype. I did.

Maybe my hot water isn't hot enough. But my experience is that a 9kw diesel heater will just comfortably keep up with both of our heat settings at around 55 degrees C.
I can't imagine a windie using an immersion heater will heat his water any more than 50 to 60 degrees C.

I bought it when I first set the business up. I was definitely someone with all the gear and no idea

 

[Deleted member 11517]

But the same poster also has a 'warehouse' full of "The Pink Stuff" he uses to clean everyone's front door. So what is it? Hot water or "The Pink Stuff" that makes the difference?
We also use that cleaner to scrub off any scuff marks on the front door and rinse it down with cold pure afterwards, and the door also looks good.

Diesel heaters are expensive to buy. It's much cheaper to fit an immersion heater, but that's not the end of it. A windie needs the right power point take off and the correct size extension cabling. If you fit a 3kw element, then you need an electrician to fit a 16amp (or larger) wall socket outside. If you fit a 2kw, then you still need an upgraded extension with a heavy-duty cable. I'm old school and some of the labelled cables they claim will support 13 amps scares me.

You do have the gad powered water boiler option but I wouldn't recommend it massive risk.

 

[Pjj]

Sometimes we get dragged along with the hot water "flavour of the month" hype. I did.

Maybe my hot water isn't hot enough. But my experience is that a 9kw diesel heater will just comfortably keep up with both of our heat settings at around 55 degrees C.
I can't imagine a windie using an immersion heater will heat his water any more than 50 to 60 degrees C.

If you have the return to tank set up so constant water circulation it will heat up the tank water on our 600 ltr set up by lunch time the tank water is that hot you struggle to touch the water it’s that hot , on mine with a bigger tank it isn’t quite as hot but still hot , I do agree about working in freezing temperatures it’s pointless as you just leave ice behind , we use hot as find it’s so much quicker with costal work and salt and bad plastic cleans we use it all day every day all year round but summer time turn it off lunch time as the tank water is so hot don’t need it on.

 

[spruce]

You do have the gad powered water boiler option but I wouldn't recommend it massive risk.

The reason I never went gas. One of the local lads had a leak at the gas bottle. It was a faulty gas regulator. It was only a week old. Filled the back of his van up with gas. He got a fright and removed his system.

 

[steve garwood]

Its a no brainer using hot water. How can you clean a pvc doors with cold water. You can scrub with cold and get there after more time in the end its all about time. Time is our most precious thing in life, so saving time means more work which means more money. If you are serious about this game then you have got to move over to hot water and see how quick it makes you work. Folk should try it for a day and see how much time they save.?

What a ridiculous post.
As a newcomer you’re telling windies who have managed for years with cold they can’t clean pvc doors with it.
I sometimes wonder if you’re a spoof on a wind up on here.
Maybe think things through before you post.
And yes, I do have hot water and have had so for years, which might shock a few on here after recent comments

 

[Deleted member 11517]

The reason I never went gas. One of the local lads had a leak at the gas bottle. It was a faulty gas regulator. It was only a week old. Filled the back of his van up with gas. He got a fright and removed his system.

I installed one around 10 years ago the bottle and regulator where fine it was just the Chinese boiler that had a mind of its own I'd turn it on and a gush of flames would pop out of where the pilot hole was.

 

[steve garwood]

I installed one around 10 years ago the bottle and regulator where fine it was just the Chinese boiler that had a mind of its own I'd turn it on and a gush of flames would pop out of where the pilot hole was.

I used the same one for ten years myself.
However, now older and hopefully wiser, I wouldn’t do it again

 

[Deleted member 11517]

I used the same one for ten years myself.
However, now older and hopefully wiser, I wouldn’t do it again

It suited needs at the time.

I don't know about everyone's else's but I'm gas and electric will be £3600 going forward I just can't justify plugging in my.immersion simply has last year I found I only really needed the heat a couple of times the rest of the time it was just nicer to work with hot than cold and it was annoying when you heated uo a tank of water and didn't get a full day done and that was when it only cost £3.60 a night.

My aim.going forward this winter is to clean in the best of conditions as it maybe the perfect excuse for customers to leave or change lengths between cleans

 

[PC]

Thanks for you input all of you. Well nearly all of you ?
Definitely food for thought ?

 

[Scots lad]

I stay where it can be minus 4 for a week on the trot just really hard frost to to that frozen so for me I hear then I don't hear when temps above 2 degrees and I been cleaning windows 40 years plus

 

[scottish cleaning service]

My experience is that we managed with cold water for some 16 years. We live on the North East coast so, granted, we don't experience the temperature drop a cleaner could experience inland.

I fitted a 2-man diesel heater into my current van a couple of years ago. (It was purchased as a repairs or repair heater, as it didn't work.) I have temperature sensors on the hot water exit side of the heater. Our hot water is set to approx 55 degrees C. On very cold mornings (ground frozen) the temperature at the brush head with say 3/4s of the hose out, is barely above lukewarm. (The warm water needs to push the cold out of 100m of hose and then warm up the hose first. The hose is then being cooled by the surrounding cold ground.) You have to be continuously working for a while before the water at the brush head gets any warmer, and a bit longer before you feel any warmth in the pole itself without gloves on.

We don't circulate hot water through the hose reel and back into the tank when we are on the move, so starting the next clean means the temperature in the hose has dropped a bit, and again, it takes a while before any significant water temperature rise at the brush head.

What does help is that it makes the hoses more manageable when the water isn't just above freezing. The downside is that a softer hose means the hose kinks more easily, so any coils or loops on the hose tend to hook up on obstacles.

Heating water in your tank will help to keep your van frost free overnight, depending on the level of insulation surrounding your tank. Like night storage heaters, you have to heat them in advance, anticipating the temperature the following day. What happens if the roads are impassable the following day, and you can't work? That's a waste of electricity in my books. This is one reason why I choose to heat water on demand.

I'm older than you are. I can honestly say having a source of hot water hasn't improved my ability to get through more work. At the temps we use, dirt doesn't just melt off the glass, nor does those horrid wax marks. Initially in cold weather we didn't spend too much time on each window because we were scared of cracking it, but that hasn't happened, so I've got back into my old cleaning routine.

The other thing to consider is that hot water flows easier. My experience is that you may need to turn your controller flow rate down. If you don't, you could well use more water if you stick to your usual cleaning routine. Rinsing is quicker with a higher water flow, but you will use more water on the initial scrubbing phase of the clean. With the heater on, I get through a little more water a day.

My diesel heater has only been used a couple of times this summer; not really out of necessity.

You have got to have a return to tank. I have two man system but as a one mam band I can only use one reel while the other is plugged into return to tank. I just move between the two reels so the one I'm using is roasting and the tank slowly heats up. It works for me.

 

[spruce]

You have got to have a return to tank. I have two man system but as a one mam band I can only use one reel while the other is plugged into return to tank. I just move between the two reels so the one I'm using is roasting and the tank slowly heats up. It works for me.

I have added a third heart exchanger, additional Shurflow pump, and a 12v digital cooling temperature controller. When the temperature inside to heating circuit reaches 82 degrees c the controller kicks the pump on which bless got water back to the track. When the temperature of that water drops to 78 degrees the controller switches the pump off. This keeps the Webasto in reduced heat mode. It can tick over in this mode all day. It just means I don't have to worry about the heater if I stop to talk.

 

[Pjj]

I have added a third heart exchanger, additional Shurflow pump, and a 12v digital cooling temperature controller. When the temperature inside to heating circuit reaches 82 degrees c the controller kicks the pump on which bless got water back to the track. When the temperature of that water drops to 78 degrees the controller switches the pump off. This keeps the Webasto in reduced heat mode. It can tick over in this mode all day. It just means I don't have to worry about the heater if I stop to talk.

When I had my Grippatank 9 kw boiler fitted I asked Oliver if we could have 3 heat exchangers on it as we regularly use 3 pumps from that van he said no as it would be to much to try and heat 3 , so we had a two man system hot and the 3 rd pump was cold from the tank but to be fair after a couple of hours it did get warm with the return to tank when a pole was not in use . So we had 2 hot poles and a warm one ???

 

[spruce]

When I had my Grippatank 9 kw boiler fitted I asked Oliver if we could have 3 heat exchangers on it as we regularly use 3 pumps from that van he said no as it would be to much to try and heat 3 , so we had a two man system hot and the 3 rd pump was cold from the tank but to be fair after a couple of hours it did get warm with the return to tank when a pole was not in use . So we had 2 hot poles and a warm one ???

If both of us are using hot, then the third heat exchanger is inactive as both operators draw all the heat the boiler produces.

 

[Iron Giant]

I stay where it can be minus 4 for a week on the trot just really hard frost to to that frozen so for me I hear then I don't hear when temps above 2 degrees and I been cleaning windows 40 years plus

Would you care to translate ?

 

[JohnDoeWindows]

Would you care to translate ?

 

[scottish cleaning service]

I think the Diesel heater method is the cheapest and the most efficient if frost stat is working. I can't see it using much diesel when on for 6 hours.

 

[Pjj]

I think the Diesel heater method is the cheapest and the most efficient if frost stat is working. I can't see it using much diesel when on for 6 hours.

6 hours constant use I think roughly it uses 1:25 ltr per hour