Using RotaRad Valves To Improve Radiator Cleaning Processes

Contour Heating work with clients across a variety of sectors to bring safer heating solutions, including the education, healthcare and commercial spaces.

To maintain hygiene levels within these areas, Contour have partnered with RotaRad to improve the accessibility of our radiators to make them easier to clean and maintain.

Read on to find out more…

Dust

During the winter we spend the majority of our time indoors with heating systems working almost constantly.

LST radiators work by pulling in cold air. As it does this, dust and particles are also pulled in from the floor. They are then pushed up to the roof and air heats up and pushed out.

When it reaches the highest point in the room the air cools down and spreads out, taking the particles with it.

The air currents that are created by convector radiators aid this process of movement and the closer you are to the radiator the more likely you are to be exposed to the particles. As the air moves around they can easily be inhaled and the smaller the particle the more harmful they can be.

This is particularly prevalent in the autumn, where dust that’s been allowed to build up over the summer while the heating system was out of use is then warmed up and pushed into the space.

Research has shown that there is a sharp increase in hospital admissions, particularly of children, in September due asthma related illness.

This correlates with the fact that this is when children begin to spend more time indoors when they return to schools and dust build up from the summer is released into the space as heating is switched on for the first time.

Dust particles come from many places including:

• Human skin

• Mould

• Faecal bacteria in bathrooms

• Wood fungi

Busy areas like schools and hospitals naturally generate more dust because of the volume of people moving around in them. This is why it’s important to ensure that cleanliness in these spaces is up to the highest standard to eliminate dust wherever possible.

RotaRad & Dust Elimination

Cleaning is the most effective way to eliminate dust and the risks that it poses from a space.

NHS guidelines require radiator covers to be removed for cleaning and every radiator and cover must be cleaned at least once every week, including the summer.

Being economical with the time it takes while meeting these standards is a challenge often faced by these spaces. A traditional LST radiator can take two people up to thirty minutes to clean.

This is where RotaRad valves come in.

Accessible radiators are an affordable solution for many healthcare and school environments.

RotaRad valves allow the radiators to be lowered down away from the wall, making the back of them more accessible. Dust can be cleaned from the radiator itself and the wall which prevents long term build up which poses a health risk.

RotaRad key features

• Can be used in new and retrofit applications

• Flame-free installation

• Simple and fast to fit and operate

• Reliable, safe and economic to utilise

• WRAS approved

• WRAS, KTW, ACS approved ‘O’ ring

• A design life of 50 years minimum

• Can be rotated through 360 degrees

• Slimline, unobtrusive and paintable

Contour And RotaRad

Contour and RotaRad work together to produce radiators that offer a more hygienic solution to healthcare, education and commercial spaces.

Contour have been using RotaRad valves as part of our LST radiator and anti-ligature radiator ranges for over four years.

There are cost effective benefits of installing RotaRad into radiators as they mean that instead two people taking thirty minutes to clean one radiator, Contour radiators can be cleaned by one person in just ten minutes. This means spaces can be turned around faster, freeing up staff for other tasks.

For financially conscious environments this reduces costs and means money can be invested into other areas such as equipment and staff.