Big energy savings in commercial buildings could result from areas other than the usual suspects such as commercial instant boiling water systems , says Nick Taylor
Because it tends to be taken for granted, the provision of boiling water for hot beverages in the workplace is easily overlooked. However, it offers the potential for large, measurable savings. Although the kettle was once the first choice hot water option for commercial environments, there are now far better solutions to provide hot drinks in the workplace.
It is not uncommon for up to twice the required amount of water to be boiled in workplace environments using a kettle. It's also estimated that by overfilling kettles, each week the average person wastes enough energy to light a house for a day or run a television for 26 hours.
As well as the over-filling problem, kettles have little or no insulation so not all the energy consumed is used to boil the contents. They also require annual PAT testing, involving internal resource or external test fees for each workplace appliance. In many locations, there are still 'unofficial' kettles brought in and secreted away for personal use. These go untested, representing risk and additional energy consumption to the business.
The best way to discourage the use of unofficial kettles is to specify a reliable, energy-efficient instant boiling water system which can be used to provide high quality drinks on demand. By adopting this approach there is no need for a 'pirate' kettle to be brought in or used in the workplace.
The mounting importance of energy conservation and technological advances have given rise to more sophisticated, energy efficient, boiling water heaters. And the provision of boiling water in a commercial environment is increasingly recognised as an important contributor in the list of products and services contributing to the overall energy management of a building.
Energy saving features
The latest versions of both under-counter and wall-mounted boiling water systems include an assortment of energy saving features. Some feature sleep modes, which are activated when usage ceases; detecting when there has been no draw-off for a pre-set period or using light sensors to switch the system to a reduced power setting when local area lighting is turned off. Products using this feature typically return to normal operation when the lights are switched back on or when the next draw off occurs.
Additionally, some of the latest products feature integral 24 hour, seven day timers of particular benefit in workplaces with fixed working hours or shift patterns. This ensures that instant boiling water is available whenever boiling water is needed and that the product is switched off at all other times such as overnight and at weekends.
Some instant boiling water systems also offer a further significant advantage in terms of business costs - they can also dispense chilled filtered water, using mains fed potable water. This feature is often specified in order to displace bottled water coolers. This further reduces costs, waste and administration, frees up valuable commercial space and cuts road transport with all the obvious carbon footprint benefits.
The latest, technologically advanced wall-mounted instant boiling water heaters deliver large volumes of boiling water and not only save energy but also improve workplace efficiency. They save staff downtime and are an attractive option for use in offices, factories, schools and a host of other applications. The instant nature of the delivery also means that no time is wasted waiting for hot drinks, particularly at times of peak demand such as official tea breaks.
Under-counter units deliver instant boiling water using a specially designed tap designed for a variety of applications including offices and breakout areas.