Is Heat cost effective?

[Mark G]

My sentiments exactly! We do mostly flat work , retail sidewalk etc and hardly ever have to use chems. Cant imagine doing flatwork without heat. 8 GPMs also goes a long way to speed up final rinsing!

[Tony Shelton]

I've seen a center done by a fellow contractor on the boards that looks immaculate. He only turns the burner on to pop gum and has never used heat with the SC.

He uses the same chem everytime. It's mild enough that it feels warm, but doesn't burn your skin.

I think he is doing them monthly.

We tried to do a side by side comparison with hot water and cold with the surface cleaner and can't tell any difference. I still theorize that the contact time of the water with the concrete using a surface cleaner is too short of a time span to make a difference. It's like plunging your hand under a 200 degree faucet and jerking it back real quick. Some surface dirt will, of course, come off, but your hands won't be clean. It takes a little soap and some time to come clean. I don't see how the hot water has enough time to do anything different from the same volume and pressure of cold water in that short of a time.

Maybe it's so subtle of a difference that it appears to be a bigger difference in the overall picture with a little faster cleaning times.