Options for the provision of Hot or Boiling water in your Office

Normal Household Kettle
Normally constructed from durable plastic or steel with a plastic handle for safety the typical kettle is powered by mains electricity and heats the water until the kettle automatically deactivates to prevent the water boiling away and damaging the heating element.

The kettle can be time inefficient as staff can end up waiting around for the kettle to boil several times in one day.

It’s also important to realise that all portable electrical appliances in offices within the UK are subject to PAT (Portable Appliance Test) testing. PAT testing involves the routine checking of each appliance to ensure continual safety; the interval between tests depends on both the type of appliance and the environment in which it is used. The Institution of Electrical Engineers (IEE) and the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) suggest intervals for inspection and testing ranging from 3 months to 4 years. To check if your office kettle has been tested check for a label stuck to the kettles power cable.

A common misconception is that kettles reach boiling point, this is rarely the case see http://www.ucl.ac.uk/sts/chang/boiling/DeLuc_boiling.htm, this is only important as the household kettle is the standard that most people have in mind when attempting to provide hot drinks in their office, in reality boiling water is not necessary for hot drinks water at 95°C and above is perfectly fine even for an office full of tea lovers.

Water Coolers with a Hot or Cook option
Water coolers (often abbreviated to "watercooler") are devices that cool and dispenses water. Generally speaking there are 2 types of water cooler: bottle-less and bottled: bottle-less water coolers are connected to the mains water supply, while bottled water coolers require regular delivery of water in large bottles from distributors. What a lot of people don’t know is that both types of cooler are often available with a hot water capability allowing some machines to dispense hot water up to 98˚C these machines are know as cold and hot or cold and cook machines.

If you are considering purchasing a water cooler with a hot tap it’s important to research the exact capabilities of the machine, often these machines are not capable of supplying water at sufficient temperatures to make a good cup of tea which could land you in hot water with your staff unless your office is full of coffee drinkers. In addition make sure that the machine comes with a safety tap that has passed all relevant UK safety checks. Even with a decent hot tap it’s best not to install one of these machines within the reach of children, to ensure that children are safe consider a desktop version of the machine or one of the heaters or boilers listed below.

Hand Wash Water Heaters
Typically starting at around £100 these systems are ideal for washroom areas where no hot water is available; the systems are capable of delivering water at temperatures of between 35°C to 80°C. Normally installed over the sink with a dedicated spout the systems are also available as under sink models at which point the hot water is fed into a dedicated tap.

The pricing of these systems is centred around the capacity that they are capable of delivering. For a 5 litre system which is adequate for most small offices you need to think about spending around £100, if larger capacities are required say between 30 and 100 Litres then £3-400 is a reasonable price.

As these are hot water systems and subject to scale you should consider a filter with a scale inhibitor. More importantly make sure that the machine is supplied by a reputable manufacturer and consider taking out a service contract to protect against failure.

Water Boilers
Often considered an excellent alternative to the normal kettle water boilers can provide near boiling water at the touch of a tap. Sourcing your machine from a trusted manufacturer is essential as the manufacturing of these machines can be subject to sub standard batches in some cases.

The pricing of these systems is partly centred around the capacity, but is also somewhat dependant on the manufacturer name. Many of the systems that we have tested have fallen short of manufacturer stated performance levels so it’s important to get best value when it comes to parting with your money.

Water Boilers fall into many categories including wall mounted, over sink and under sink models and undersink taps which normally have an additional chilled option.

The machines themselves often have a sleep mode allowing the machine to be kinder to the environment and the company coffers.

As before these are hot water systems and subject to scale you should consider a filter with a scale inhibitor. More importantly make sure that the machine is supplied by a reputable manufacturer and consider taking out a service contract to protect against failure.