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New to wfp and upgrading to hot water

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tom1990

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manchester
Hi I have recently bought a full wfp system installed in my van so am fairly new to all of this and have a few questions if anyone could help, 

Currently just using cold water but with winter coming up I'm Considering my options,

What are my options in terms of heating the water? Could I upgrade to a hot water system fairly easily? Or if I keep the cold water system is there any way of the water not freezing when it gets to them sort of temperatures?

Also with a lot of water dripping down in peoples gardens and in front of doors, would I have to put grit down so it doesn't turn to ice? 

Cheers 

 
If you do a search, you will find topics recently to look through on changing to hot water. 

 your new to wfp so  why don’t you do your best to do a good job with what you have now, get used to how everything works, then consider an upgrade. Many of us use cold water. With the water issue it is a slight problem in winter.  I wipe the door with a cloth so the water doesn’t freeze up on the step. But if it is freezing outside it’s time for a day off?

 
Tom1990:

Blimey,new to wfp & upgrading already ?..thats a hell of a luxurious expense,Thermal heat wash..around £12k or so...I go along with Jango's comment mate.

 
We also carry a bucket of salt and sprinkle down where we are concerned about causing a slip hazard. I used to ask but most customer told me not to bother. That worried me so we just do it these days.

Which reminds me, I need to get some salt.

 
tom1990 said:
Hi I have recently bought a full wfp system installed in my van so am fairly new to all of this and have a few questions if anyone could help, 

Currently just using cold water but with winter coming up I'm Considering my options,

What are my options in terms of heating the water? Could I upgrade to a hot water system fairly easily? Or if I keep the cold water system is there any way of the water not freezing when it gets to them sort of temperatures?

Also with a lot of water dripping down in peoples gardens and in front of doors, would I have to put grit down so it doesn't turn to ice? 

Cheers 
Click to expand...
We have been wfp for 15 years and only used cold water. The only time we couldn't work was during the bad spell of snow and ice we had in 2011/2012. We didn't do much work for 6 weeks. We did a couple of shops traditionally and that was that. Even if we had hot water most of the estates were impassible to access with a van full of water. As it was we got the van stuck in snow doing these shops.

The areas we work aren't flat so skidding out of control down an untreated road and doing damage to my van and other parked cars was out of the question.

What I did do 10 years ago was fit an Eberspacher Airtronic diesel air heater into the last van. I used it often to keep the van's cabin warm. I then used to retreat back to the van to thaw out. Its still in the old van and I'm debating whether to install it in my current van or not. 

 
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If you have a drive to park your van on you can fit a 2kw immersion heater in your tank and have change from £100, as shown by Squeeky Clean Dave on YouTube. A 2kw immersion can be run on an ordinary extension cable as long as it's rated 13 amp (beware a lot of extension cables are only rated 10 amp so I made my own). I've been using the same system for about three years, never had a problem. It's not expensive to run. This time of year I leave it plugged in and switched on from early evening till start of work in the morning. Once it's up to temperature (60c) the thermostat kicks in and out as needed. My tank is now so well insulated that it only loses a very few degrees in the working day. We tested it after a day's work last week and it was still 58c.

For the life of me I can't fathom how or why folk are willing to spend multiple thousands of pounds on systems. Hot water is hot water as far as I can see no matter the method used to heat it. 

Each to their own of

of course. 

Freezing around doors and paths : extra quick on the brush so as not to leave too much water behind is my method. ?

 
Davy G..I enjoyed reading & learning about the above.Id like to know more about the above mentioned heating system...Could you advise with photo's or what to look for on Youtube please mate ?.

Thanks WillShineWindows.

 
Pane said:
Davy G..I enjoyed reading & learning about the above.Id like to know more about the above mentioned heating system...Could you advise with photo's or what to look for on Youtube please mate ?.

Thanks WillShineWindows.
Click to expand...
Hi mate, glad you enjoyed my post. In answer to your question, I got my information from : £50 hot water window cleaning upgrade. Squeeky Clean Dave, youtube. He has a couple of videos on the subject and several other very good videos related to the trade. 

I have mine fitted about three inches from the bottom of a flat Wyedale 650ltr tank similar to his. It's fitted directly below the filler cap for ease of fitting and replacing when the time comes, again similar to what he's done. Hope this helps you. ?

 
Hi Davy G..thanks for your reply mate??.I hadnt realised you had a 650 litre tank..im looking too keep my ford swb connect van warm if the cold bites bad...ive got a 45 litre trolley along with 4 x 25 litre water butes..Im hoping to find away too keep these functioning nicely.

Thanks again Davy G.

WillShineWindowCleaners.

 
My van has a bulkhead and a treated and coated wood floor. It's sealed round the edges to stop water getting to the metal floor. On top of that I have closed cell foam matting, the sort that clips together like a jigsaw (Halfords, and other places). The sides are ply lined and painted, the roof has foil lined bubble wrap, held in place using spray on carpet adhesive. Before I had the hot water system which now keeps the inside of the van warm enough, I tried a small oil filled radiator but I found it didn't spread enough heat all round the van (Mercedes Vito). I found a small fan heater worked better for me. It's very important to try and keep as much heat contained within the van as possible. 

With all the insulation and padding the van is warm as toast and nearly as comfortable and quiet as my wife's car. 

?

 
Thanks Davey G for the warm heating info mate??.In my swb connect,the sides & floor are ply & carpet lined..just the roof needs insulation..a thick lining of some sort.Then too find a van heater of some description .

Thanks again Davey G.

 
The other day, my brother called and complained that his boiler was broken. And he does not have time to wait for it to be fixed. He asked me to tell where he can quickly order a new one. I advised him to use the same water heater as mine. My water heater provides water heating both in the shower and in the kitchen. It is quite powerful, we have enough heating for 4 people. He explained to his brother that he would be able to find more in the online store and choose a suitable water heater in terms of volume, power and type of connection. Because the choice should be based on individual requirements.

 
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