What you don’t want in a water cooler
Water cooler reviews are far and few between, so here goes.
Thinking of getting an office water cooler or a water cooler at home. The below applies to office water coolers, water fountains, under sink coolers, instant hot water dispensers, water dispensers and is based on our long experience as London’s leading water cooler company.
We all know why we drink water and that water retention is so important. The advantages of drinking water are numerous and have been extensively covered elsewhere on this site. However, if you are thinking of buying or renting a water cooler here’s some serious no no’s
Never ever choose a reservoir chilling type cooler over a direct chill system. Safe drinking water cannot be taken for granted and health and safety is becoming a litigious arena so why take a chance on old style technology. Reservoir cooling consists of a jug like inner to the cooler which is then chilled. The problem with this system is it allows bacteria to breed in the stagnant water and is very difficult to clean at regular intervals. If possible always choose a direct chill cooling system where the water is cooled as it flows through the cooler, rather like a hose pipe wrapped around an ice bank – hence no stagnant water and cleaning issues.
Never accept a white ugly plastic box type cooler – There is an array of attractive coolers available so why settle for something that will detract from your premises.
Tap height must be at least 90cms high, ruling out all gravity fed water coolers where the taps have to be located at the bottom of the reservoir. These inferior coolers have the additional problem that they tend to be very low coolers to start with as they tend to be manufactured in the Far East and the manufacturers likes to ship them too high which can only be done by making them low to start with. This means you need to bend over backwards to help yourself. This is completely unnecessary as European manufactured coolers will have water pumps that pump the water to a height made for a European high person.
Make sure the cooler produces at least 5 litres per hour of cooled water to avoid periods where there is no chilled water available. There are many cheap water coolers producing less than 2 litres per hour so beware.
If choosing a hot water cooler beware of cheaper coolers which use much more electricity – it’s a little bit like the great looking Far Eastern manufactured toy car you buy your kids, only to find it uses 5 huge batteries every couple of days – this is so true with water coolers and any quality hot cooler with a vacuum sealed hot tank could save you as much as £40 / year on your electricity bill – ouch. And what’s more it will cut your carbon footprint.
Cost – Do not judge a cooler by how much it costs, we spend almost double on the coolers we supply as opposed to buying cheaper models – Why do we do this?? Because we do this all day every day and have learnt the hard way, cheap to buy does not equal value for money. So we would always recommend paying more rather than less if that makes sense.
Whatever you decide, remember to only rent your cooler from a reputable company with a strong presence in your area. You can have the greatest water cooler in the world but if you can’t get any service, its all pretty useless. Always consider the whole water cooler effect and make sure you have a hassle free, enjoyable cooler service.
