[dazmond]

after my little experiment with hot water over the last few months im beginning to ask myself is it worth the extra cost?

i spent extra money on a better more robust reel when a cheap £40 claber reel had done me for a few years with cold water no problem.

ive had more problems with hot water esp with pressure settings,hoses.then theres draining the heaters every night,blowing connectors,leaks,double clamping everything etc.

then the other day i worked with cold with my old claber reel and 100m of microbore and the hose was much more managable due to being much lighter and thinner than thermobore.i was no slower but defo a bit quicker due to easier hose management.

no pressure problems

no leaks

no money spent on gas

windows still came up great

no extra time spent scrubbing the windows.

on add on jobs i usually use virosol and connect to custies outside taps if they have one anyway.

apart from the comfort of having warm hoses and maybe easier to clean birdmuck off and snailtrails.i think hot water is a luxury.

i no we havent had a cold winter but ive been wfp for 4 years now and worked down to -2 before with cold with no problems apart from the odd iced up window and frozen jets.


your thoughts guys?


dazmond

[Dave Willis]

Exactly the same. Always turn mine off in the summer. You are rarely any quicker because your scrubbing/rinsing action remains identical.

[Bill.upnw]

Nice post, ppl make it out its the best thing since sliced bread and that if you haven't spent the money on it your missing out.

Good ohnest post,

[steven ainger]

I use hot water all year round, have done for over 5 years.
Never have any leaks, never have any problems due to hot water.
Still using the same thermobore & claber reel for nearly 3 years.
I would really miss having hot water everyday.

[gary999]

im going to be using hot water in the summer months
for con cleans etc i can see the benefit when muck is baked on of
the extra cleaning power

maintenance cleans i will cold as normal

As for the winter for me there just isnt any benefit,anything below
a couple of degrees below freezing i dont work due to safety concerns.

No doubt we will have many who will be along soon and who have
invested in a hot water system to justify to myself and especially
themselves how it is really essential.

Much like the other dopey bleeders who think that buying lighter
and lighter poles for cleaning at lower levels will prevent RSI injury

[ben M]

im going to be using hot water in the summer months
for con cleans etc i can see the benefit when muck is baked on of
the extra cleaning power

maintenance cleans i will cold as normal

As for the winter for me there just isnt any benefit,anything below
a couple of degrees below freezing i dont work due to safety concerns.

No doubt we will have many who will be along soon and who have
invested in a hot water system to justify to myself and especially
themselves how it is really essential.

Much like the other dopey bleeders who think that buying lighter
and lighter poles for cleaning at lower levels will prevent RSI injury

good post Gary 

[dazmond]

the thing is gary virosol sprayed on a really dirty conny roof or fascias and left for a few mins does the same job! i normally plug into customers outside taps to save on pure plus you get a stronger flow of water from an outside tap speeding you up anyway!

i dont agree on lighter poles not helping with RSI though.

i dont ache at all using 25 and 47 extremes.well worth the extra money for a lot less strain IMO.

[gary999]

Not aching doesnt mean you wont get RSI.

Typists etc dont lift heavy weights but are prone to RSI...its
the repetitive nature of the work that causes the strain not  weight
same with poling for us windies especially at lower heights.

Obviously 25ft and  over there is a argument for lighter poles
for better control and less strain but the average family home
the top windows must be only around 12ft,my personal opinion is
at those heights the extra cost brings little or no benefit.

Back on subject im not going to invest heavily just a electric
water heater to be used when i think necessary

[dazmond]

a lot of my work is not average 12 ft windows though gary!lots of awkward windows over extensions and roofs.some of my jobs i need a 25 ft pole at full stretch just to reach the top of the first floor windows! ;Dso extremes help a great deal in cutting down strain.

ON TOPIC ive not spent that much on a hot water system mate.im certainly glad i didnt spend £3000+ on a professional diesel heated system as i simply dont think the benefits are huge!

[richard groves]

So there is something to be said for keeping things simple after all.

[Clever Forum Name]

Nah don't buy that lighter poles won't help with RSI.

A lighter pole will reduce the strain on joints and wrists.

As for hot water it's a tool. I know people have been 15 years WFP COLD! Still not hot.

Hot has it uses

[SherwoodCleaningSe]

I agree, it is a luxury, but I like some of the luxuries in life. I think it more than pays for itself on Maintanance cleans and on first time or conny roofs it speeds things up dramatically.

As for hassle, if it's set up properly, ie john guest fittings ect it will be hassle free.

Simon.

[Clever Forum Name]

Yeah I would agree with that.

My system (cold) is bone dry. It will be the same when it's hot.

[SeanK]

I think a lot of wfp window cleaners just want the latest toys and forget that business
is all about making a profit.
If I'm going to spend £500 a year on gas plus more again on equipment then I want a return
on that money.
So far I haven't seen any evidence that hot will make me any quicker so I wont be investing in it.
Light poles are a good investment because with less weight you don't tire and slow down over
the day as quickly, this means you can get more properties cleaned.
Thanks for the honest review Dazmond.

[Window Lickers]

after my little experiment with hot water over the last few months im beginning to ask myself is it worth the extra cost?

i spent extra money on a better more robust reel when a cheap £40 claber reel had done me for a few years with cold water no problem.

ive had more problems with hot water esp with pressure settings,hoses.then theres draining the heaters every night,blowing connectors,leaks,double clamping everything etc.

then the other day i worked with cold with my old claber reel and 100m of microbore and the hose was much more managable due to being much lighter and thinner than thermobore.i was no slower but defo a bit quicker due to easier hose management.

no pressure problems

no leaks

no money spent on gas

windows still came up great

no extra time spent scrubbing the windows.

on add on jobs i usually use virosol and connect to custies outside taps if they have one anyway.

apart from the comfort of having warm hoses and maybe easier to clean birdmuck off and snailtrails.i think hot water is a luxury.

i no we havent had a cold winter but ive been wfp for 4 years now and worked down to -2 before with cold with no problems apart from the odd iced up window and frozen jets.


your thoughts guys?


dazmond

Is that a home made system?

[keyser soze]

totally agree with daz . its nice to keep hoses supple and my hands warm . don't think it cleans better though . I'm thinking of switching the gas off in summer too. money saved will pay for my much wanted extreme

[Mike #1]

Good to know i am not missing anything  , Never thought i was and have worked some really bad winters with cold system down to -3 and trudging through a foot of snow .

Once it gets down to -3 do you really want to be out at work anyway and most would'nt whether HOT or NOT . Mike

[Marc Stock]

I think a lot of wfp window cleaners just want the latest toys and forget that business
is all about making a profit.
If I'm going to spend £500 a year on gas plus more again on equipment then I want a return
on that money.
So far I haven't seen any evidence that hot will make me any quicker so I wont be investing in it.
Light poles are a good investment because with less weight you don't tire and slow down over
the day as quickly, this means you can get more properties cleaned.
Thanks for the honest review Dazmond.

Completly agree there.

I was going to install a hot water system simply to make working in snow and minus conditions a bit more pleasent. Im glad i didnt now as we have had a very mild winter.

Saying that though, even in the snow and icey conditions two years prev i still managed to work with wfp, id have thought that if we had sustained minus 5 conditions for 3 months of the year that id have a different opinion.

Alot of window cleaners are suckers for marketing hype. You are right, the reason your in business is to make money, not buy loads of flashy doo dahh stuff. whats the point in working your backside off if your going to spend all your profits on flashy bits and bobs.

There is a local window cleaner that i sometimes stop and ave a chat with, he has a thermopure system, contantly tells me how much it cost him and how amazing it is, and then tells me how many issues he has had with it, especally the heater part of it.

[bobplum]

its about making available tools work for you at various times, i switched my gas off this year has been to mild, but would use it for the first conny clean/ facia cleans of the year

[dazmond]

its pretty cold here this morning.ice on my windscreen!all my jobs are 6 weekly commercial today with one domestic.offices on a main road first job off the day which will be dirty after the storms so im glad im using hot water today!