Clean It Up
UK Window Cleaning Forum => Window Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: olanorman on December 01, 2019, 08:18:08 pm
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If you would get a diesel heater yourself today, would you try to make it yourself at a reasonable cost? Or pay quite a hefty sum from a window cleaning supplier? (cause of VAT+ shipping +etc we are taking £ 4-5k for me.
Im planning to order a 8KW diesel water heater for about 256 usd (£200) incl shipping, I think that price is great.
Dont want to spend a lot on a fancy diesel heater if I could learn something, and setup a reasonable system myself.
Ive been paying attention to the "DIY diesel heater...." thread that has a lot of good info, this air diesel heater seems awesome! Its just going to take more time for me I think vs. the cost of this heater and simplicity.
Heater:
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000382615414.html?spm=a2g0o.placeorder.0.0.5ee3321epN9PiO&mp=1
Should I also get a heat exchanger? Something like this? Do I have to use a heat exchanger?
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/VOKERA-LINEA-28-726-BOILER-DHW-PLATE-HEAT-EXCHANGER-16-PL-8037/231242935668?epid=1523358427&hash=item35d7272d74:g:qlYAAOSw-fldLHUT
And then a small tank for the ekstra hot water, or just put the water straight back to the tank?
Also read something interesting about Pressure valve that kicks in when you use say example aqua-adapter.
If any inputs, please share them :)
I see they use heat exchange here, but is it necessary?
(https://www.butlertechnik.com/images/webasto-thermo-top-evo-12v-diesel-camper-heating-kit-4117881a-p2756-4264_image.jpg)
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I know nothing about the subject but I certainly wouldn't pay thousands for hot water.
If it could be made affordable (hundreds rather than thousands) and the running costs became more reasonable I would consider one.
Happy enough with cold otherwise.
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If it made a difference then it wouldn't cost anything infect it would make you money, I wouldn't pay £200 for a diesel heater but I don't understand why those who think it would make them money are quibbling over a few grand.
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If it could be made affordable (hundreds rather than thousands) and the running costs became more reasonable I would consider one.
Happy enough with cold otherwise.
Good you are happy with your setup, but thats also what Im trying to achieve that its hundreds instead of thousands :)
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I have 1 a 9kw 2 man heater well worth the money ,if I had someone cleaning windows I’d want them to use hot water that’s the response I get from customers.
I’d love to work beside a cold cleaner on some work and see them get the same results as me.
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If it made a difference then it wouldn't cost anything infect it would make you money, I wouldn't pay £200 for a diesel heater but I don't understand why those who think it would make them money are quibbling over a few grand.
There is definitely times where its better to buy, then try to setup yourself, and perhaps this is one of the scenario.
But I want to try to make it happen, sometimes its also interesting to learn a few things :)
Here its colder, more windy, more extreme weather at times then the UK, a lot of salt from the sea and a lot of bird poo on the windows. The hot water also evaporate quicker then cold, less spotting.
I have used both cold and hot - there is a clear winner for me :)
Starting up again with window cleaning after several years doing other things, so trying to make the right equipment that suits me when starting over again.
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I have 1 a 9kw 2 man heater well worth the money ,if I had someone cleaning windows I’d want them to use hot water that’s the response I get from customers.
I’d love to work beside a cold cleaner on some work and see them get the same results as me.
Happy your experienced and happy with your heater ;) I have to agree with you :)
Did you put it together yourself? Do you use a heat exchange unit with the 9kw?
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If you would get a diesel heater yourself today, would you try to make it yourself at a reasonable cost? Or pay quite a hefty sum from a window cleaning supplier? (cause of VAT+ shipping +etc we are taking £ 4-5k for me.
Im planning to order a 8KW diesel water heater for about 256 usd (£200) incl shipping, I think that price is great.
Dont want to spend a lot on a fancy diesel heater if I could learn something, and setup a reasonable system myself.
Ive been paying attention to the "DIY diesel heater...." thread that has a lot of good info, this air diesel heater seems awesome! Its just going to take more time for me I think vs. the cost of this heater and simplicity.
Heater:
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000382615414.html?spm=a2g0o.placeorder.0.0.5ee3321epN9PiO&mp=1
Should I also get a heat exchanger? Something like this? Do I have to use a heat exchanger?
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/VOKERA-LINEA-28-726-BOILER-DHW-PLATE-HEAT-EXCHANGER-16-PL-8037/231242935668?epid=1523358427&hash=item35d7272d74:g:qlYAAOSw-fldLHUT
And then a small tank for the ekstra hot water, or just put the water straight back to the tank?
Also read something interesting about Pressure valve that kicks in when you use say example aqua-adapter.
If any inputs, please share them :)
I see they use heat exchange here, but is it necessary?
(https://www.butlertechnik.com/images/webasto-thermo-top-evo-12v-diesel-camper-heating-kit-4117881a-p2756-4264_image.jpg)
As I understand it you need the heat exchanger for two reasons. 1. You can alter the temperature with the mixer tap so you're not running full tilt all the time if you don't want too. 8kw will maybe be too hot in winter 2. The usual setup is coolant in the heating circuit as it doesn't corrode the insides of the heater/Heat sensor.
You should also consider using two heat plates so you can have one returning to the tank constantly. That prevents the heater powering up and down constantly, they don't like that and they use more power with constant restarts.
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I have 1 a 9kw 2 man heater well worth the money ,if I had someone cleaning windows I’d want them to use hot water that’s the response I get from customers.
I’d love to work beside a cold cleaner on some work and see them get the same results as me.
Sorry mate but what a load of crap. Your customers couldn’t give a monkeys whether you use hot or cold water, they just want clean windows.
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I have 1 a 9kw 2 man heater well worth the money ,if I had someone cleaning windows I’d want them to use hot water that’s the response I get from customers.
I’d love to work beside a cold cleaner on some work and see them get the same results as me.
Sorry mate but what a load of crap. Your customers couldn’t give a monkeys whether you use hot or cold water, they just want clean windows.
i have to agree danny.... the customers dont care as long as they are clean......
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If you would get a diesel heater yourself today, would you try to make it yourself at a reasonable cost? Or pay quite a hefty sum from a window cleaning supplier? (cause of VAT+ shipping +etc we are taking £ 4-5k for me.
Im planning to order a 8KW diesel water heater for about 256 usd (£200) incl shipping, I think that price is great.
Dont want to spend a lot on a fancy diesel heater if I could learn something, and setup a reasonable system myself.
Ive been paying attention to the "DIY diesel heater...." thread that has a lot of good info, this air diesel heater seems awesome! Its just going to take more time for me I think vs. the cost of this heater and simplicity.
Heater:
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000382615414.html?spm=a2g0o.placeorder.0.0.5ee3321epN9PiO&mp=1
Should I also get a heat exchanger? Something like this? Do I have to use a heat exchanger?
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/VOKERA-LINEA-28-726-BOILER-DHW-PLATE-HEAT-EXCHANGER-16-PL-8037/231242935668?epid=1523358427&hash=item35d7272d74:g:qlYAAOSw-fldLHUT
And then a small tank for the ekstra hot water, or just put the water straight back to the tank?
Also read something interesting about Pressure valve that kicks in when you use say example aqua-adapter.
If any inputs, please share them :)
I see they use heat exchange here, but is it necessary?
(https://www.butlertechnik.com/images/webasto-thermo-top-evo-12v-diesel-camper-heating-kit-4117881a-p2756-4264_image.jpg)
I don't mean to offend, but you need to study how a parking heater works in detail first and then look at some manufacturer's systems to understand why you need to use heat exchangers.
These systems work on the internal heated water circuit (eg a vehicles cooling system which they were designed for,) and the hot water to the brush draws heat from this internal water circuit. A water to water plate heat exchanger makes the transfer of heat from this internal hot water circuit to your cold water line to the brush head possible.
As has been stated, if it wasn't necessary then the suppliers wouldn't use heat exchangers.
You could of course plumb in a heater to directly heat the water in your tank and as a windie in Andover has done/did. He uploaded his system working on Youtube.
There have been numerous threads over the years on diesel heaters. Just do a search.
The link you have put up for the refurbished heat exchanger isn't suitable as it ideally needs threaded hose fittings.
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to the original poster...if your a fairly competent DIYer and enjoy it...why not try and make a budget diesel heater to heat your water?
i can do basic DIY but i wouldnt say i particularly enjoy it and i certainly wouldnt try installing a diesel water heater and integrating it into my system...i wouldnt have the confidence....after my scare with a gas leak and explosion from a gas water heater a few years ago when i was a DIY er id pay for a pro system installation every time.....
im planning on keeping my van for 10+ years and when i got my 9kw diesel heater fitted it was a present to myself for 25 yrs window cleaning! ;D
for most of my window cleaning life ive bought old cars/high mileage vans esp when trad which is fine but i noticed when i did this when wfp i was changing my van every few years and the hassle of installing tanks and messing about with gas shower heaters,not to mention breakdowns in my van,it was a faff.......
i have a very well established compact round and just want to get the work done as efficiently and as easy as possible with little faff/downtime so i went with a grippatank hydroheat with frost stat.....its never missed a beat in 2 years and hopefully ill get many years service out of it.......
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What you sorry for don’t be,I’m right.
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If it made a difference then it wouldn't cost anything infect it would make you money, I wouldn't pay £200 for a diesel heater but I don't understand why those who think it would make them money are quibbling over a few grand.
There is definitely times where its better to buy, then try to setup yourself, and perhaps this is one of the scenario.
But I want to try to make it happen, sometimes its also interesting to learn a few things :)
Here its colder, more windy, more extreme weather at times then the UK, a lot of salt from the sea and a lot of bird poo on the windows. The hot water also evaporate quicker then cold, less spotting.
I have used both cold and hot - there is a clear winner for me :)
Starting up again with window cleaning after several years doing other things, so trying to make the right equipment that suits me when starting over again.
Iv never had to deal with costal conditions or conditions that would need me to use anything more than cold water so I cant disagree with what you're saying, but what I'm saying is if you need the tools then buy good tools, the money you save by trying to do it on the cheap will more than likely be used up by the time wasted on the job while you try and put it together, find the money and get yourself to Grippa.
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I have 1 a 9kw 2 man heater well worth the money ,if I had someone cleaning windows I’d want them to use hot water that’s the response I get from customers.
I’d love to work beside a cold cleaner on some work and see them get the same results as me.
Sorry mate but what a load of crap. Your customers couldn’t give a monkeys whether you use hot or cold water, they just want clean windows.
i have to agree danny.... the customers dont care as long as they are clean......
NWH's problem is he doesn't believe his windows where clean using cold, that said if you go back far enough through his posts he was telling trad guys the opposite, when it come to some people its just best to smile and nod.
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Yeah I used to be wrong about a lot of things in the past on here but 1 of them now and the main 1 is hot water is better than the cold the Pikeys use,they all say there doing so well but haven’t got 4 grand to buy and try it’s not like they’ve had a proper working diesel heater and they can comment really lol.
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Yeah I used to be wrong about a lot of things in the past on here but 1 of them now and the main 1 is hot water is better than the cold the Pikeys use,they all say there doing so well but haven’t got 4 grand to buy and try it’s not like they’ve had a proper working diesel heater and they can comment really lol.
Nigel - your a bit deluded really your STILL wrong on so many things 😂
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If you want a reliable hot water diesel system I think it’s better to go out and buy one that’s proven , installed by a professional company , any half decent sole trader should easily be able to afford it they arnt expensive , no faffing about with gas bottles and no reliability issues , if you employ staff again it’s fool proof , I don’t understand why so many on hear are boasting how much they are earning but cannot afford 4.5 k on a heater , or winge about not wanting to spend that much
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If I cleaned lots of big big commercial jobs like some I wouldn t care if I had cold because of half those jobs they don’t really care anyway lol,as long as you look like you’re cleaning em.
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i found out today off a neighbour that my frost stat is working fine.....apparently my heater has fired up twice over the weekend to keep my system from freezing while i was away...... :)👍...clever piece of equipment.......
to some spending £4.5k on a professional hot water system is too expensive...... but for me personally i dont regret my purchase one bit.....its a great addition to my wfp set up ...no hassle....press a button first thing in the morning and 15 mins later i have hot water for my first job of the day......no worries about freezing issues,etc and makes the working day a lot more pleasant overall......today it was almost like i was steam cleaning the windows in this frost! ;D
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It was freezing today in the shadows around the back of houses out of the sun. Lad said to me that he wouldn't have minded hot water today. I couldn't argue with that comment as I was thinking the same myself. ;)
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If you are doing ok work wise it’ll come off earnings so I can’t see what the problem is tbh.
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I did a full day without issue with cold. I just put a pair of gloves on but by 11am they weren’t needed.
NWH you’re embarrassingly deluded if you think you’re achieving any better results than someone working with cold water.
Yes it may be more comfortable on the hands, it may even keep you working the one day every 3 years that temps reach -4° in the daytime, but to say you are getting better results is just making yourself look a bit silly.
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You have never used hot water on a constant basis if you can’t agree hot cleans better than cold,people can go on about how deluded they think I am but if you had cleaned what I’ve cleaned this last few weeks with cold water you’d have ruined 2 brushes scrubbing.
Cold water does not remove spider droppings and green window sills quicker or to the same standard,it’s like saying I drive a Ford ST and you drive an M2 competition I could say my car was better but I would then be the deluded one eh.
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You have never used hot water on a constant basis if you can’t agree hot cleans better than cold,people can go on about how deluded they think I am but if you had cleaned what I’ve cleaned this last few weeks with cold water you’d have ruined 2 brushes scrubbing.
Cold water does not remove spider droppings and green window sills quicker or to the same standard,it’s like saying I drive a Ford ST and you drive an M2 competition I could say my car was better but I would then be the deluded one eh.
I had a full ionics hot box system for 2 full weeks, only last month.
You are wrong, and deluded.
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Hot box is that the 5kw version if it is it’s not the same or anywhere near the same as a 9kw heater,I’ve had a 5kw or the equivalent of and it doesn’t produce water close to the same heat constantly at the brush.
It may produce hot water if you circulate it back to tank but it soon cools down.
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A full Ionic’s lol no a full Ionic’s system is a thermopure 2 man 9kw heater.
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You have never used hot water on a constant basis if you can’t agree hot cleans better than cold,people can go on about how deluded they think I am but if you had cleaned what I’ve cleaned this last few weeks with cold water you’d have ruined 2 brushes scrubbing.
Cold water does not remove spider droppings and green window sills quicker or to the same standard,it’s like saying I drive a Ford ST and you drive an M2 competition I could say my car was better but I would then be the deluded one eh.
starting to sound like this diesel heating system is really a pen!s substitute......
Darran
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Listen guys I’ve really got to crack on I’ve got a serious amount of windows to clean on a massive school with cold water,who cares though they won’t care how they come up with cold there’s so many windows and like i say they ain’t bothered so I’ll miss a few corners and leave a few nice big brush strokes that can’t be seen from outside,with cold water don’t matter though i ain’t doing the insides lol
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You just make sure you keep you’re employees away from that hot water eh,don’t want them realising what there missing just keep telling em it’s no different if you don’t want all that extra cost of fitting them vans out lol.
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I’ve got an oil fired Rayburn with a back boiler on, knocking around in the shed. Maybe I could install it in the van. Dry my laundry at the same time too. And make a fry up,
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Listen guys I’ve really got to crack on I’ve got a serious amount of windows to clean on a massive school with cold water,who cares though they won’t care how they come up with cold there’s so many windows and like i say they ain’t bothered so I’ll miss a few corners and leave a few nice big brush strokes that can’t be seen from outside,with cold water don’t matter though i ain’t doing the insides lol
(http://www.cleanitup.co.uk/smf/1575380278_nwh2.png)
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Listen guys I’ve really got to crack on I’ve got a serious amount of windows to clean on a massive school with cold water,who cares though they won’t care how they come up with cold there’s so many windows and like i say they ain’t bothered so I’ll miss a few corners and leave a few nice big brush strokes that can’t be seen from outside,with cold water don’t matter though i ain’t doing the insides lol
(http://www.cleanitup.co.uk/smf/1575380278_nwh2.png)
Cant believe yet again, i agree with one of seans post!
Niel, Im a fan of hot water and Ive taken some stick on here with my results, which others for various reasons cant duplicate. However I also agree that the same results can be had with cold water! My opinion is that Hot is a fraction quicker and certainly nicer to use. However to try n pi$$ of ones for using cold water isnt the way to go mate. If you need hot water so as not to leave spots or your employees, I would strongly recommend correcting your technique and not turn up the temp
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Hot box is that the 5kw version if it is it’s not the same or anywhere near the same as a 9kw heater,I’ve had a 5kw or the equivalent of and it doesn’t produce water close to the same heat constantly at the brush.
It may produce hot water if you circulate it back to tank but it soon cools down.
It was the 9kw 2 man setup that I had. Running it as a single user.
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On days like this I just wish I was cold water only,I miss the old hose being like wire lol.
Lovely I can imagine what the inside of some of the vans are like with some people,I bet it looks like an old rusty container in the back lol.
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On days like this I just wish I was cold water only,I miss the old hose being like wire lol.
Lovely I can imagine what the inside of some of the vans are like with some people,I bet it looks like an old rusty container in the back lol.
no need to imagine - lets have at look at your rolls Royce van and set up - show us all where we have gone wrong....
Darran
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No m8 I’m to busy rushing through all those huge jobs with cold just doing an average job keeping under the radar.
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how old are you nigel?12?...... ::)roll...blimey........ ;D
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wow - that hot is really something - cleaning in the dark, must be of great comfort to you
we finished our work hours ago ;D
Darran
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You know you boys are supposed to stop walking when you actually clean a window with the pole don’t you,my pole was so warm today I’ve almost got chilblains lol.
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how old are you nigel?12?...... ::)roll...blimey........ ;D
No think that's the mental age ;D
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Brrrr cold out there boys
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I don't mean to offend, but you need to study how a parking heater works in detail first and then look at some manufacturer's systems to understand why you need to use heat exchangers.
These systems work on the internal heated water circuit (eg a vehicles cooling system which they were designed for,) and the hot water to the brush draws heat from this internal water circuit. A water to water plate heat exchanger makes the transfer of heat from this internal hot water circuit to your cold water line to the brush head possible.
As has been stated, if it wasn't necessary then the suppliers wouldn't use heat exchangers.
You could of course plumb in a heater to directly heat the water in your tank and as a windie in Andover has done/did. He uploaded his system working on Youtube.
There have been numerous threads over the years on diesel heaters. Just do a search.
The link you have put up for the refurbished heat exchanger isn't suitable as it ideally needs threaded hose fittings.
Oh wow, excellent and knowledgeable feedback, thank you so much! :) I really appreciate your feedback!
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As I understand it you need the heat exchanger for two reasons. 1. You can alter the temperature with the mixer tap so you're not running full tilt all the time if you don't want too. 8kw will maybe be too hot in winter 2. The usual setup is coolant in the heating circuit as it doesn't corrode the insides of the heater/Heat sensor.
You should also consider using two heat plates so you can have one returning to the tank constantly. That prevents the heater powering up and down constantly, they don't like that and they use more power with constant restarts.
Oh wow, alright, brilliant, thank you so much for your valuable feedback, it helps me :)
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to the original poster...if your a fairly competent DIYer and enjoy it...why not try and make a budget diesel heater to heat your water?
i can do basic DIY but i wouldnt say i particularly enjoy it and i certainly wouldnt try installing a diesel water heater and integrating it into my system...i wouldnt have the confidence....after my scare with a gas leak and explosion from a gas water heater a few years ago when i was a DIY er id pay for a pro system installation every time.....
im planning on keeping my van for 10+ years and when i got my 9kw diesel heater fitted it was a present to myself for 25 yrs window cleaning! ;D
for most of my window cleaning life ive bought old cars/high mileage vans esp when trad which is fine but i noticed when i did this when wfp i was changing my van every few years and the hassle of installing tanks and messing about with gas shower heaters,not to mention breakdowns in my van,it was a faff.......
i have a very well established compact round and just want to get the work done as efficiently and as easy as possible with little faff/downtime so i went with a grippatank hydroheat with frost stat.....its never missed a beat in 2 years and hopefully ill get many years service out of it.......
Yeah it can be a pain at times to DIY and get a proper working system, and happy to hear your really excited about your setup.. Im sure your decision was good, and frost stat is great! :)
You see, you have done this for over 25 years already - congratulations!! So to be very frank, I think window cleaning is extremely boring, thats why last time I had a window cleaning company my focus was mostly growth, and trying out new things within the branch, but sold it off to travel the world for quite a few years. What I like about window cleaning is that it gives me a flexibility with traveling when I want, make okay money, listen to a book, podcast etc while working...
If I want to "survive" this kind of work, I want hot water system, simple as that. Ive had LPG hot water and of the shelf 9kw diesel system. LPG system worked nicely for me, but I safety aspect of it is another thing. I helped another company setup LPG heater, but they blew 2 setups, also seeing pictures from here... I dont want to do that again.... Not worth the risk.....
Diesel system worked great, expect stopped working after a while, dont know what it was, but it was serviced at a diesel center and it was just paid off... but I paid I think about £ 7k for a full wfp system with shipping, this was about 10 years ago.... Now I think if I can understand and set it up myself, I can also easier do troubleshooting and save some cash... I also like learning new things..
So if I can not pull it off by setting up a system by myself and help from forum / learning things online... I will buy a system... Or just go back to working with IT systems ;D
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I have 1 a 9kw 2 man heater well worth the money ,if I had someone cleaning windows I’d want them to use hot water that’s the response I get from customers.
I’d love to work beside a cold cleaner on some work and see them get the same results as me.
Sorry mate but what a load of crap. Your customers couldn’t give a monkeys whether you use hot or cold water, they just want clean windows.
I also think that the most important for the customer is that its clean, not necessary how they are cleaned. For some customers coming from TRAD, explanation is needed at times.. If they are being explained the difference between hot and cold water, also also think that many would prefer having it done by hot water..
There seem to be several strong opinions about this subject, so that can be a good thing :)
At least information I find online about hot water vs cold:
- Higher temperature means the water molecules are on average bouncing around faster – they have more kinetic energy. When introduced to a surface they will quickly bounce around dislodging any weaker molecules such as dirt that is on the surface.
- Heat increases the internal attractive energy of the water, allowing it to have more attractive force on a microscopic level. Although this energy increase is much less prominent than the increased kinetic energy it still allows improved ability to “suck” away the stain/dirt molecules from the surface.
My own experience is that windows that are not cleaned very often, say 1-4 times a year can be cleaned much quicker.. This is my experience.... Dont know if it matters so much in other conditions, but at least Ive seen a big difference, especially on large commercial jobs.
The most important for me, is just to have equipment Im happy with, so that I can actually work more and not get too tired mentally of cleaning windows.. ;D
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I don't mean to offend, but you need to study how a parking heater works in detail first and then look at some manufacturer's systems to understand why you need to use heat exchangers.
These systems work on the internal heated water circuit (eg a vehicles cooling system which they were designed for,) and the hot water to the brush draws heat from this internal water circuit. A water to water plate heat exchanger makes the transfer of heat from this internal hot water circuit to your cold water line to the brush head possible.
As has been stated, if it wasn't necessary then the suppliers wouldn't use heat exchangers.
You could of course plumb in a heater to directly heat the water in your tank and as a windie in Andover has done/did. He uploaded his system working on Youtube.
There have been numerous threads over the years on diesel heaters. Just do a search.
The link you have put up for the refurbished heat exchanger isn't suitable as it ideally needs threaded hose fittings.
Oh wow, excellent and knowledgeable feedback, thank you so much! :) I really appreciate your feedback!
I've just noticed that the aliexpress heater you linked to is described as an air heater. If you do order it you need some guaranteed way of getting your money refunded if an air heater is supplied.
Imho there is no perfect solution. You have to keep a diesel heater running so you need have a way of bleeding excess heat generated back to the tank when you stop working.
Ionics have a system that uses one heat exchanger and a header tank. The external water system to the brush head is on a 65psi relief valve. When you switch the water off to the brush head, pressure builds up in the system and activates the relief valve which directs hot water back to the tank.
The down side is that you can't regulate the heat of your water. Yes, they have an extra switched wire coupled up to the Webasto 90 they use to reduce the maximum heat output by 10 degrees (around that) for winter. It seems to work fine as there have been no complaints on a mass scale of cranked windows using their systems.
One of the window cleaners put up a YouTube video (Squeeky clean Dave) of pouring boiling water over a couple of frozen double glazed window panes without cracking them. Single glass would be a concern.
A Webasto takes about 180 seconds to get fired up. When it shuts down it goes through a shutdown cycle which also takes around 180 seconds. A few degrees temp before shutdown they go into a reduced heat mode. These German heater's are quite complex.
I'm not sure if the Chinese copies are as sophisticated.
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to the original poster...if your a fairly competent DIYer and enjoy it...why not try and make a budget diesel heater to heat your water?
i can do basic DIY but i wouldnt say i particularly enjoy it and i certainly wouldnt try installing a diesel water heater and integrating it into my system...i wouldnt have the confidence....after my scare with a gas leak and explosion from a gas water heater a few years ago when i was a DIY er id pay for a pro system installation every time.....
im planning on keeping my van for 10+ years and when i got my 9kw diesel heater fitted it was a present to myself for 25 yrs window cleaning! ;D
for most of my window cleaning life ive bought old cars/high mileage vans esp when trad which is fine but i noticed when i did this when wfp i was changing my van every few years and the hassle of installing tanks and messing about with gas shower heaters,not to mention breakdowns in my van,it was a faff.......
i have a very well established compact round and just want to get the work done as efficiently and as easy as possible with little faff/downtime so i went with a grippatank hydroheat with frost stat.....its never missed a beat in 2 years and hopefully ill get many years service out of it.......
Yeah it can be a pain at times to DIY and get a proper working system, and happy to hear your really excited about your setup.. Im sure your decision was good, and frost stat is great! :)
You see, you have done this for over 25 years already - congratulations!! So to be very frank, I think window cleaning is extremely boring, thats why last time I had a window cleaning company my focus was mostly growth, and trying out new things within the branch, but sold it off to travel the world for quite a few years. What I like about window cleaning is that it gives me a flexibility with traveling when I want, make okay money, listen to a book, podcast etc while working...
If I want to "survive" this kind of work, I want hot water system, simple as that. Ive had LPG hot water and of the shelf 9kw diesel system. LPG system worked nicely for me, but I safety aspect of it is another thing. I helped another company setup LPG heater, but they blew 2 setups, also seeing pictures from here... I dont want to do that again.... Not worth the risk.....
Diesel system worked great, expect stopped working after a while, dont know what it was, but it was serviced at a diesel center and it was just paid off... but I paid I think about £ 7k for a full wfp system with shipping, this was about 10 years ago.... Now I think if I can understand and set it up myself, I can also easier do troubleshooting and save some cash... I also like learning new things..
So if I can not pull it off by setting up a system by myself and help from forum / learning things online... I will buy a system... Or just go back to working with IT systems ;D
window cleaning is a means to an end.....most jobs are boring after a while....the great thing about window cleaning(esp in this day and age)is once you have built up a good round then its very easy to work short hours for half decent money,no stress,flexibility,its self sustaining(no need to go looking for new work!it comes to you if you want it!).....IMO you cant beat it.....no collecting anymore due to online payments,round software,hot WFP,its never been a better time to be a window cleaner....
BUT!from my experience do you really want to be faffing about with cheap DIY hot systems?if i had my time again i would of gone straight for a brand new 9kw grippatank heater with frost stat from the start,fitted into a brand new van.....then your sorted for many years to come....with very little downtime/problems leaving you time to just get on and do your job....
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Just buy one of mine !
Will have a price for them very shortly