All of us are looking for efficiencies in business, particularly in the highly competitive markets that exists following the last recession and credit crunch. However , curiously not many companies have calculated the actual cost of the particular downtime when staff make their refreshments.
Take the conventional kettle - 1 . 5 litres of water, 1 ) 5kw element, up to 4 minutes to boil, in addition to probably 7 or 8 hot drinks, before starting typically the cycle again. The cost? Around 3p per boiling bike.
I hear you say well 3p is not substantially and kettles are cheap to buy and replace. Despite the fact that taken on it's own that statement is true, but when you start to look at the loss of productivity when staff queue for their drink it all starts to become suddenly costly. People are people, and by design we are gregarious and standing around waiting encourages a loss of time through chatting and socializing.
I came across the recently with over 400 office staff, just about to move into a multi-million pound new building, and then provide fluids for hot drinks by means of kettles! Just calculate this out in terms of lost time due to the kettles not being able to keep up with the quantity of drinks required within the very shorter time window of a dinner or tea break. Scary actually it!
For some time now, architects or m&e consultants have initiated specifying boiling and chilled water systems for office environment tea-points, break-out areas, conference rooms, catering areas, venue rooms and more. Modern and forward thinking fit-out companies, m&e engineers and global companies are encouraging their use even so it is still not a concept that has been readily received. click for more info
So what could be the features and benefits of commercial under-counter boiling and refrigerated water systems? I've listed a few for you to consider, which have been really a checklist of points to raise when choosing supplier.
Prompt water dispensing - the favourite combination is cooking food and chilled, and the best systems quote initial furnish by number of cups. Typically these would be between 15 and 100 cup immediate availability and between 3 and 250 per hour! The reason initial dispense numbers are important is that they are a guide to the capacity of the boiling plus chilled taps. Can they deliver hot or cold products if every staff member were to require a drink at the same few moments? Impossible to consider with the kettle but within range of better commercial systems such as Billi or Zip. Try to ensure that you get an answer from your supplier as to the instant dispense power.
Consistency - drink number 100 is the same temps as number 37 or as number 1. The better products dispense water at 98. 5 degrees C : widely acknowledged as the optimum temperature for tea. The perfect side delivers filtered water at 6. 5 deg C.
Economy - the best commercial units cost near 9p per day to run. A very significant cost advantage. Set alongside the ordinary kettle, boiling and chilled systems use a lot less electricity, waste less water and last longer.
Choice rapid Boiling, Chilled and Sparkling, Boiling and Chilled, Cooking food and Ambient, Chilled and Ambient, Chilled and Stunning... if fact almost any combination.
Space Efficient - Certain boiler units are capable of providing 250 cups per hour and often will fit under a standard counter top. Not all the manufacturers of hot and chilled taps however are able to supply units worth mentioning compact dimensions so its worth checking if this is for that reason.
Ventilation - When comparing brands it is worth noting of which some units on the market require a ventilation grille installing and keep the units cool. These are typically air-cooled units, however , there are some now on the market that are water-cooled and don't require often the grille.
Limescale - The hard water in the UK means that boiling and chilled systems require scale filters. The better labels will utilize the scale filter only on the hot water facet of the boiler unit, This means that office workers who want chilled and also sparkling drinks will get purer, better tasting water instructions instantly.
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