View Full Version : Water savings
Helllo Everyone!
As you all remember I ripped out my 5yr old washers and replaced them with the SQ qunt machines.....
My water bill was on the average of $4,500 per month!
I just got my new water bill in the mail and it was $2,358.00!!!!
A saving of more then $2,000 just on water alone!
BTW that also adds $2,000 to my bottom line so when it comes time to sell my store that $24,000 a yr in EXTRA gross income goes a long way!
Jefflange
02-13-2011, 08:56 PM
Sounds great. How do the new machines save you water? What type of cycles did the old machines have compared to the new. Were the old mechanical timer with prewash,wash and 3 rinses?
Sounds great. How do the new machines save you water? What type of cycles did the old machines have compared to the new. Were the old mechanical timer with prewash,wash and 3 rinses?
I removed the pre wash and 1 rinse. Yes the old ones were mechanical with those washes. Havent had much complaints but I am very happy with the results.
Jefflange
02-13-2011, 09:50 PM
Do you offer prewash and 3rd rinse as option.
Do you offer prewash and 3rd rinse as option.
3rd rinse yes.
20s and 30s $.25 more
60s $.50 more
80s $1.00 more
The way I see it, does a customer really need a pre wash wash and 3 rinses... I dont think so. I had the same machine set up in my other store for about 1yr and never had complaints. In this store for the few 2 weeks or so complaints here and there but customers dont say anything now. I have seen that a very good amount of customers more then 50% always chose that extra cycle that gives them that extra wash time.
Chad, I did something similar within the past two months, replaced my old ipso's with 5 baths to Dexters, 1 wash, 2 rinse standard. My water bill went from averaging 3,300 a month, first full month was 2,100. You are either in a high water rate area like me, or just doing a heck of a volume, but either way, it was a no brainer!
I've observed that most of the time the washers finished with excessive soap inside was because the customers put too much clothes and left little space for water. I once gave out a full refund to a regular customer to rewash for another 30 minutes. The washer still ended up with soap all over the glass door. If there were no prewash and 3rd rinse, those customers would blame my store and go somewhere else. For now, I prefer increasing the price rather than reducing the wash time. It would be too much to convince customers that 22min wash is the same as 30min.
Chad, I did something similar within the past two months, replaced my old ipso's with 5 baths to Dexters, 1 wash, 2 rinse standard. My water bill went from averaging 3,300 a month, first full month was 2,100. You are either in a high water rate area like me, or just doing a heck of a volume, but either way, it was a no brainer!
Its a high volume store and I am in Los Angeles. Water rate is pretty high but I am very happy with the savings.
I've observed that most of the time the washers finished with excessive soap inside was because the customers put too much clothes and left little space for water. I once gave out a full refund to a regular customer to rewash for another 30 minutes. The washer still ended up with soap all over the glass door. If there were no prewash and 3rd rinse, those customers would blame my store and go somewhere else. For now, I prefer increasing the price rather than reducing the wash time. It would be too much to convince customers that 22min wash is the same as 30min.
Its all about having the correct settings on the washers along with the right water levels. You can not increase your price enough to account for the savings that i just saved. I am able to do just about anything I want to the machines using the program and wand that SQ gave me.
I have not seen any drop in volume, I have seen a slight increase due to customers wanting that extra wash time and paying for it now.
Just out of curiosity what are you guys in those high rate areas paying per gallon for water and sewer combined?
In My area we pay 6/10ths of a penny per gallon (.006)
next city 2 miles away they pay 50% more 9/10ths.or (.009)
In my area in MA, I pay 2.6 cents per gallon. As Chad said, I simply cannot price a machine high enough to make the two extra baths make sense.
At the end of the day does a customer really need all those washes?
For the knuckleheads that pour detergent in despite signage and past recommendations, no number of rinses is enough. I found when I had two washes on the old ipso's, the tended to add soap to each wash, so the three rinses really didn't help the situation. If the amount of soap used is as recommended, three 'baths' is more than adequate.
Adamski
02-14-2011, 06:21 PM
The first generation commercial cycle -
In the old days, most washers would wash and then drain and then spin and then rinse and drain and spin and then another rinse and drain and spin and then a final rinse and drain and spin. A few brands, like Wascomat, even included a prewash prior to the wash as well as all them there rinses and spins. There was a whole lot of fillin' and drainin' and spinin' goin' on. (Hey. This sounds like the makin's for a hit Country-Western song.) Water was cheap so everybody thought that this kind of cycle was acceptable.
The second generation commercial cycle -
One day, Alliance (and possibly others) thought that maybe commercial washers should work more like the big industrial washers work. And so the wash, drain, rinse, drain, rinse, drain, rinse, drain, spin cycle was developed. As you can see, this new industrial style commercial cycle eliminated all those pesky, mid-cycle spins but it did much more than that.
The water saving trend begins -
The new commercial cycles saved water because whenever the washer refilled for a rinse, the load was already soaking wet from the previous wash or rinse bath so the clothes did not soak up as much water. This saved a gallon or two when filling each rinse bath. The elimination of any prewash also saved an entire bath of water.
2 washes for the price of 1 -
Not only does the load retain water after the wash bath, it also retains a lot of soap as well. So when the washer fills for the first rinse, that soap comes out of the load and into that thar rinse water. When you mix water and soap what do you have? Right. You have another wash bath. So the first rinse is actually more like a second wash bath and that's a good thing, partner, because that's why them thar industrial washers do such a good job.
The third generation commercial cycle -
Then several manufacturers decided that it's not necessary to fill the basket to a high water level for every bath. So they added a multi-level pressure switch in place of the old style single-level pressure switch. Now they could program some baths for a low water level and some for a medium water level and some for a high water level depending on the type cycle. These low and medium level settings helped save even more water.
The fourth generation commercial cycle -
The manufacturers looked at what they had done and they said, "This is better 'n a woman after a month-long cattle drive ... but we must make our washers even more efficient." So they experimented and found that a rinse, drain could be eliminated. So they programmed the washers with a wash, drain, rinse, drain, rinse, drain, spin. Now the washer only had to fill 3 times per cycle so another entire bath's worth of water was saved. By now they're yellin' from the rooftops about how efficient their washers are.
The fifth generation commercial cycle -
As you can imagine, by now manufacturers were running out of ideas for ways to reduce water consumption still further. They were down to just 3 baths per cycle and many of those weren't even high level baths. The clothes were retaining water from bath to bath as well. What to do now? Well, Dexter decided that some water could be saved by eliminating the drain sump. So they welded the drain nipple directly to the bottom of the outer cylinder. Now the sump would not have to be filled for every bath because there is no sump.
The sixth generation commercial cycle -
Is currently being developed and tested.
Great post larry thank you!
Me being in so cal and not getting alot of rain has hurt the business in 2 ways.
1. the winters seem to get slower to do not much rain and heavy usage of heavy clothing.
2. The cost of water due to not having enough rain has hit our pocket books.
We are about to finally get some much needed rain starting wendesday then into friday, We havent had rain for about 1 month now. While its still cold outside during the nights, we have seen temps in the high 70s and even 80s this winter. I am very happy and excited to be saving that much per month.
STOUT
02-14-2011, 09:40 PM
Larry;
You crack me up !!!!
"This is better n' a woman after a month-long cattle drive"
You really have a way with words. :D:D
laundry8me
02-14-2011, 10:39 PM
I was saving so much water with my Horizons that the inner core of overloads were coming out dry. The good thing is it saved the customer drying costs,(assuming the laundry spun out properly), the bad thing is they were not happy when it happened.
I sold the Horizons to an RV park and put in Speed Queen 20 lb. hard mounts. I am ecstatic with the upgrade.
Below is my list of resolved Horizon problems, not necessarily in order of magnitude:
1. No more shocks bottoming out with a banging noise on the spins. I love the quiet spins of the hard mounts.
2. No more dripping wet clothes as a result of machine being out of balance.
3. No more detergent, bleach and softener on the floor.
4. No more pulling dispensers out of the machine to clean in the sink because detergent is plugging up the bleach and softener dispensers.
5. Total default cycle time reduced from 27 min. to 21 min. Customers are liking the fast wash.
6. No more changing out rubber door boot every few months because of pin holes in top of the boot allowing water to escape as it sprays out the inlet nozzle; the result of excessive back and forth movement of the cylinder.
7. The large dispensers on the hard mounts swallow up most of what is dumped in, unlike the tiny Horizon dispensers.
As you can see, I am very happy with the change in machinery.
I was saving so much water with my Horizons that the inner core of overloads were coming out dry. The good thing is it saved the customer drying costs,(assuming the laundry spun out properly), the bad thing is they were not happy when it happened.
I sold the Horizons to an RV park and put in Speed Queen 20 lb. hard mounts. I am ecstatic with the upgrade.
Below is my list of resolved Horizon problems, not necessarily in order of magnitude:
1. No more shocks bottoming out with a banging noise on the spins. I love the quiet spins of the hard mounts.
2. No more dripping wet clothes as a result of machine being out of balance.
3. No more detergent, bleach and softener on the floor.
4. No more pulling dispensers out of the machine to clean in the sink because detergent is plugging up the bleach and softener dispensers.
5. Total default cycle time reduced from 27 min. to 21 min. Customers are liking the fast wash.
6. No more changing out rubber door boot every few months because of pin holes in top of the boot allowing water to escape as it sprays out the inlet nozzle; the result of excessive back and forth movement of the cylinder.
7. The large dispensers on the hard mounts swallow up most of what is dumped in, unlike the tiny Horizon dispensers.
As you can see, I am very happy with the change in machinery.
THATS GREAT! But what does that have to do with this topic about WATER SAVING!
laundry8me
02-15-2011, 02:37 PM
THATS GREAT! But what does that have to do with this topic about WATER SAVING!
Sorry about straying so far off subject Chad.
My original intention was to convey that not all water stingy machines are created equal. Anybody looking into buying new machines to save water should dig down into the details/history of the model be considered before buying. As an example, even though Horizons save huge amounts of water, the negatives outweigh the water savings, imo. The Horizons only use 12.8 gallons of water per cycle, which sounds great, but there are other considerations to keep in mind. It boils down to know your customers and buy machines that work for them.
BTW, congrats on the HUGE drop in your water bill!
How do you like your 20s.... Arent they great! How much do vend them at?
My 20s use about 21gal of total water.
Adamski
02-15-2011, 03:29 PM
Gary,
You make a good point. Saving water is not always numero uno in importance. Cycle speed, reliability and customer satisfaction also rank right up there as well.
laundry8me
02-15-2011, 03:42 PM
How do you like your 20s.... Arent they great! How much do vend them at?
My 20s use about 21gal of total water.
I am very happy with my SQ 20s. I bought the Quantum Gold and start at $2.25, with quarter increases for each option, including hot water option. The highest price is $3. I also like the 21 min. default time.
It sounds like we have the same model.?
laundry8me
02-15-2011, 03:52 PM
Gary,
You make a good point. Saving water is not always numero uno in importance. Cycle speed, reliability and customer satisfaction also rank right up there as well.
Larry,
Yes, even though my new 20s use 21 gallons of water vs the Horizons 12.8 gal. my customer satisfaction will most certainly be higher. Also, these new ones are far more self sufficient as far as attendant attention goes. Yay!
I am very happy with my SQ 20s. I bought the Quantum Gold and start at $2.25, with quarter increases for each option, including hot water option. The highest price is $3. I also like the 21 min. default time.
It sounds like we have the same model.?
Very nice price point!!! I am at 32min with 21 gal of water... They are very good machines, very happy with them.
Adamski
02-15-2011, 08:18 PM
Chad & Gary,
Do your 20# Speed Queens allow a customer to add and Extra Wash or an Extra Rinse like my Huebsch 20# washers? If not, do the Speed Queen washers have some sort of Special Cycle or something out of the ordinary for the customer to choose? Any detail you can provide is appreciated.
I too am very satisfied with my 20# hardmount (2008) washers. I'm glad I didn't buy any Horizons at the time. Many on this BB gave me valuable feedback that steered my purchase decision toward the hardmounts.
Chad & Gary,
Do your 20# Speed Queens allow a customer to add and Extra Wash or an Extra Rinse like my Huebsch 20# washers? If not, do the Speed Queen washers have some sort of Special Cycle or something out of the ordinary for the customer to choose? Any detail you can provide is appreciated.
I too am very satisfied with my 20# hardmount (2008) washers. I'm glad I didn't buy any Horizons at the time. Many on this BB gave me valuable feedback that steered my purchase decision toward the hardmounts.
Yes they do larry, I have the software and wand I can do any programming I like. I charge for a extra rinse.
laundry8me
02-15-2011, 08:40 PM
Larry,
I assume the SQ 20 lb. setup is the same as my recently sold Horizon Quantum Gold washers , in that the Medium control gives an extra wash and the Heavy control gives an extra wash and rinse. They are set at the factory default program. I have them priced at 25¢ extra for each upgrade.
Larry,
I assume the SQ 20 lb. setup is the same as my recently sold Horizon Quantum Gold washers , in that the Medium control gives an extra wash and the Heavy control gives an extra wash and rinse. I have them priced at 25¢ extra for each upgrade.
How many do you have gary?
laundry8me
02-15-2011, 09:09 PM
Yes they do larry, I have the software and wand I can do any programming I like. I charge for a extra rinse.
Chad,
Do you use a Mac or PC with the wand?
laundry8me
02-15-2011, 09:10 PM
How many do you have gary?
I have 4 of them.
bodman
02-15-2011, 09:15 PM
chad maybe you have exceptional smart customers however a speed queen owner in central fl replaced his tops with horizons and stated when they die he will not go back with new ones , for reasons stated above and he is getting 3.25 with 8 turns a day . Another mat owner replaced old washers with all soft mount continentals set on the lowest water settings after 3 months of operation and declining revenues he raised all water levels and customers are coming back. I opened a mat 1.5 years ago and had all washers on the lowest water levels and complaints were hugh business was dismal so I raised water levels business is terrific and I am a happy owner. LOTS OF QTRS
chad maybe you have exceptional smart customers however a speed queen owner in central fl replaced his tops with horizons and stated when they die he will not go back with new ones , for reasons stated above and he is getting 3.25 with 8 turns a day . Another mat owner replaced old washers with all soft mount continentals set on the lowest water settings after 3 months of operation and declining revenues he raised all water levels and customers are coming back. I opened a mat 1.5 years ago and had all washers on the lowest water levels and complaints were hugh business was dismal so I raised water levels business is terrific and I am a happy owner. LOTS OF QTRS
I to had this small issue but it was fixed in a matter of hrs.
Snice I had the wand and program I adjusted the levels tell I had no complaints and i was still saving water.
Defult settings are very very very low, but i was lucky enough to be there with the program to adjust everything, Also I have done this before because my other store has the same machines so I was to take feedback from that store as well. BTW I am very high priced and my customers are very very picky.