Rinnai - precision controlled temperature the new normal for all hygiene regimes

Hot water temperature precision and control are now being stated as major factors in the design, specification, and installation of any hot water delivery system. 

Reports have emerged from specific industries and sectors, such as laundry for healthcare and care homes, that the temperature of the hot water is critical to the cleaning and disinfecting process to render the possibility of transmitting the virus as near to zero as possible.

‘At a time when the need for clean and sterile indoor environments is paramount, we must re-consider the design of the provision of hot water services which incorporate heat engines to provide copious volumes of hot water AND provide that hot water at the precise temperature needed,’ comments Rinnai Operations Director, Chris Goggin.

Sound guidance does already exist, as seen in the laundries industry, as seen within the Health & Safety Executive’s HSG (95)18 Hospital Laundry Arrangements for Used and Infected Linen which states -

“The washing process should have a disinfection cycle in which the temperature in the load is maintained at 65ºC (150ºC) for not less than 10 minutes or, preferably, at 71ºC (160ºF) for not less than 3 minutes”

The benefits of temperature control are not new – for example, in the world of building services it is well understood particularly, for anti-legionella regimes. With ACOP L8 advising that “maintaining a supply temperature of at least 60 degrees C from the heat source and/or storage vessel (calorifier)” amongst other system design advice.

All hot water delivery systems in any commercial or institutional sites need to be given detailed consideration to the potential of Legionella proliferation during the shutdown. This will necessitate that certain procedures and measures are carried out before the system can be made ‘live’ and function efficiently.

ACOP L8 guidelines, produced and published by the Health & Safety Executive, lists the details and necessary procedures to ensure system cleanliness. According to ACOP L8, continuous flow direct to outlet systems are low risk for Legionella, due to it allowing for a full turn-over of water volume, no stored water and accurate temperature control.

There is also greater scope being given to the importance of temperature in terms of building efficiency and carbon footprint. 

Adds Rinnai’s Chris Goggin, ‘From almost all angles this is rightly so, as the necessity to design hot water systems at a set point greater than needed to satisfy Legionella concerns or temperature loss fears or to build in shunt pumps to continually pump water round an unoccupied building to prevent stratification, raises the real question that any user, designer, consultant or manufacturer must ask –

“Are we using the right system for the right job” 

Available within 24hrs from Rinnai is a range of units giving instant and constant flows of hot water for hygiene and cleaning use in any commercial or institutional sites such as all healthcare, care homes and mobile hygiene, including any new or planned sites.

If there is a constant supply of gas and water the Rinnai units are guaranteed to supply temperature accurate hot water in unlimited quantities for all hygiene regimes in all types of healthcare sites or temporary accommodation.

Rinnai’s complete range of hot water heating units are available for next day delivery on orders placed before the previous mid-day.

Rinnai is the world’s leading manufacturer of continuous flow hot water systems - it makes and sells 2 million units each year. The range of units can be manifolded to supply, limitless hot water to a school site of any size. This means fast, efficient, temperature-controlled water on demand at the point of delivery – kitchens, showers, accommodation blocks, bathrooms, washrooms. It also means far less space spent on plant rooms and no or little maintenance as all units are proven to be robust with a long, long working life.

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