SHOWCASE: Hot Water Pressure Washers from Kärcher Commercial
When techs debate which type of pressure washer is best in commercial applications, the discussion really heats up when two leading approaches are matched up in a head-to-head competition– cold water versus hot water.
According to the experts, the decision hinges in large part, but not exclusively on, what is being cleaned.
“Cold water pressure washers are ideal for removing lightly adhering dirt and cleaning large areas,” explained Richard Neff, Marketing Manager at Karcher Commercial. Examples include cleaning jobs involving dust, cement, moss and earth or protein-containing dirt.
Conversely, typical applications for hot water pressure washers include the removal of stubborn direct, such as oil, grease, soot carbon grease, emission pollution and mineral contamination.
Advantages of Hot Water Machines
“Hot water pressure washing delivers a number of other compelling advantages,” added Neff. “They provide faster cleaning, reduce labor costs, easily remove stubborn dirt, require shorter drying time and are measurably more effective dissolve oil and grease.”
Also with hot water pressure washing, users experience the following benefits:
- Reduced likelihood of streaks
- Fully dry objects attract new dirt less easily
- Effective antibacterial action
- Reduced need for detergents with less-contaminated waste-water
- Greater versatility — can be used in cold, hot or steam mode
- Variable temperature to suit the cleaning job
- Eco!efficiency mode (from Karcher) reduces heating oil consumption
- Reduced impact pressure: same cleaning effect at lower working pressure
Cold Water Still Packs a Punch
At the same time, cold water pressure washers also make a compelling case. Continued Neff, “Cold water machines are typically less expensive, do not incur water-heating costs and service and repair costs are more modest.”
They are also:
- More compact ( in terms of dimensions)
- Lower weight
- Easier to transport and store
Efficient High-pressure Cleaning
But there’s more: Heat is an important factor in the cleaning process.
The use of heat accelerates chemical processes; every 50 °F increase in temperature doubles the reaction speed. A 60 °F increase in temperature greatly increases the reaction speed. This increase is water temprature is ideal for removal of oil and grease.
Finally, a heated surface dries faster. In practice, this means that higher water temperatures can reduce cleaning times by up to 40 % – with far better results.
The Bottom Line
The cost of purchasing and maintaining a hot water pressure washer is generally higher due to the additional burner and related energy consumption.
Importantly, using hot water offers a time savings of up to 40% with improved cleaning results.
In addition, hot water pressure washers normally eliminates the need for detergent costs.
Concluded Neff, “Since labor costs can be a multiple of the purchase and operating costs over the total lifecycle of the pressure washer, the use of a hot water pressure washer is often the more economical solution, depending on the type of application.”
More at: www.KarcherCommercial.com.
Category: Equipment, Featured, General Update, Management, Pressure Washing
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