HOT WATER???

[CarWashGuy316]

3/4 of my locations have hot water. I know the customers love it.

Just purchased a new wash, needs a boiler or some other water heater system.

was considering tankless options. Would anyone recommend these? This car wash is pretty low volume. Dont need anything crazy.

was looking at kleen rite

Bosch?
Rheem?
Paloma?

 

[OurTown]

If looking at tankless be warned that they can severely restrict flow to your pumps. Each model should have a flow chart but you will need to know the incoming water temp. Some can be run in "commercial mode" where it bypasses the flow restrictor but it usually voids the warranty. You could put one on each bay or if using a gravity hot water tank you can have a second float valve set lower to let in cold water to avoid starving pumps. There are ways to hook one up to a separate storage tank with circulator pump too.

 

[Kimberly Berg]

When I bought my car wash 19 years ago, I removed the giant 80 gas water heater. It was badly rusted & too expensive to use in California. Then, I switched over from cheap chemicals to high-quality Blendco chemicals & customers tell me their car is getting cleaner! I know chemistry has come along ways in the car wash industry, not sure water needs to be heated any longer...

 

[MEP001]

One local guy used to run the Paloma PH24 heaters which alone can't run two bays at once, but he'd use three for a 6 or 7 pay SS by using a Hydrominder for each one into a single tank, and a 4th valve to fill the tank in case it got too low. That would be a cheap way to utilize multiple tankless heaters. They usually have a way to unlock them so you can turn the water temp up to 140 or 160°, then you can use a tempering valve and get a much higher output of water at around 120°.

You can save on hot water costs by running only high pressure soap hot. I plan on getting hot water back up, and first I'll convert the high-pressure wax to low pressure.

 

[Earl Weiss]

IMO you do not need to run straight Hot water to the bay or mixing tank. You can T in a cold water line which will also allow you to adjust temperature according to conditions. This will reduce the volume your water heater needs to provide.

 

[Roz]

Customers do not notice the hot water. Heck they do not read signs.

Some owners believe that the chemicals mix better with hot water but no clear proof just hypothesis. I know one owner who is experimenting with all hot water all the time as they think it may help clean cars better than regular temp. Has three large tankless systems - I am curious to hear how the new setup goes - he is a top operator so maybe he is onto something.

 

[JMMUSTANG]

Customers do not notice the hot water. Heck they do not read signs.

Some owners believe that the chemicals mix better with hot water but no clear proof just hypothesis. I know one owner who is experimenting with all hot water all the time as they think it may help clean cars better than regular temp. Has three large tankless systems - I am curious to hear how the new setup goes - he is a top operator so maybe he is onto something.

I would like to know what his gas bill is.

 

[OurTown]

Customers do not notice the hot water.

Some do. Our boiler was down for about a month several years ago and had many customers asking when it was going to work again. We gained some customers from other car washes that let their boiler go and not replace. Probably more notice it in the winter.

 

[MEP001]

I have people routinely ask if I run hot water. I tell them no and apologize, and if they seem put off I tell them that almost no one in the area runs hot water anymore (which is true). So I know for sure some of them care, and I also sometimes see a customer feel if it's hot.

 

[Dan kamsickas]

Here in the great white north, customers notice hot water........especially when it's as cold as the buttcrack of hell outside. Yes.....some lunatics will wash their cars in a self serve bay in a blizzard.

 

[CarWashGuy316]

Customers do not notice the hot water. Heck they do not read signs.

Some owners believe that the chemicals mix better with hot water but no clear proof just hypothesis. I know one owner who is experimenting with all hot water all the time as they think it may help clean cars better than regular temp. Has three large tankless systems - I am curious to hear how the new setup goes - he is a top operator so maybe he is onto something.

I have people routinely ask if I run hot water. I tell them no and apologize, and if they seem put off I tell them that almost no one in the area runs hot water anymore (which is true). So I know for sure some of them care, and I also sometimes see a customer feel if it's hot.

Yeahh ive had wuite a few customers comment about hot water

 

[Ryancross11]

Here in the great white north, customers notice hot water........especially when it's as cold as the buttcrack of hell outside. Yes.....some lunatics will wash their cars in a self serve bay in a blizzard.

Snow comes and ice just comes off so much better with hot water.

 

[Hamilton's Car & Dog Wash]

I would like to know what his gas bill is.

I have 3 tankless heaters on natural gas. They run on my pre soak setting only pulling from a small holding tank. Pretty busy 6 bay wash. My bill is $85-100 a Month.

 

[Hamilton's Car & Dog Wash]

I have 3 tankless heaters on natural gas. They run on my pre soak setting only pulling from a small holding tank. Pretty busy 6 bay wash. My bill is $85-100 a Month. Running at 130 degrees.

 

[Earl Weiss]

Some owners believe that the chemicals mix better with hot water but no clear proof just hypothesis. I

A quick Google search will provide the scientific explanation.

 

[CarWashGuy316]

I have 3 tankless heaters on natural gas. They run on my pre soak setting only pulling from a small holding tank. Pretty busy 6 bay wash. My bill is $85-100 a Month.

I have a low volume 4 bay. I think i could get away with two for sure. Winter always stacks up cars and would like to be able to handle that volume.

what tankless water heaters did you purchase??

How did you set it up?

are you circulating into a tank or you are direct in line?

 

[washnvac]

Customers indeed notice hot water. That is why all my competitors have low volumes, and I have very high volumes--they have all discontinued hot water . It is not that big of an expense, but it is big in keeping and growing sales.

Operators that keep cheaping out on a properly run self serve hurt all of us in the end. And those operators eventually get those sales right down to where they can handle them--zero. In my area, there was Oasis car washes that had 7 locations. Now they are gone due to poor management (and no hot water)

Wash your dirty hands with cold tap water and let me know how that works out......

 

[Waxman]

laundry, bodies, dishes, cars all need hot water washing

why is this even a debate?!?

 

[Eric H]

why is this even a debate?!?

 

[Greg Pack]

I run it "bathtub warm"- probably about 100 degrees coming out of the nozzle. I think it may help enhance cleaning on oily/greasy soils but it's not going to eliminate brushing or aggressive chemistry. I also feed my presoak on my touch free with hot water.

If it comes out super hot it makes it way too easy to literally strip grease off stuff, which I don't want.