With so many great reasons to rent, why wouldn’t you make this choice?
When people ask us, “What does your company do?” the short answer is easy to sum up in two words – HOT water! But those words don’t wholly explain the full spectrum of the services we offer here at Reliable. Specifically, Reliable Water Services rents commercial water equipment – water heaters, boilers, softeners, and more – to businesses that need it. These businesses often include companies in the hospitality and service industry, such as restaurants, senior living facilities, hotels, breweries, and apartment buildings. The question typically following this explanation is, “Why would anyone rent a water heater?”
To answer, we say, “Why would anyone not rent a water heater?” Here are the reasons why in the commercial world, water heater rental is the way to go!
First of all, if you need hot water in your business, you likely need water heating equipment. Unlike the water in your home, water heaters in commercial industries need to produce plenty of hot water. More importantly, access to hot water needs to be consistent. When elderly residents depend on water for safety and sanitation, when your kitchen needs hot water for clean dishes and equipment, or when an entire building is depending on access to hot showers and laundry, you need equipment you can rely on.
Most of us have the instinct to go out and purchase the equipment we need. Something is comforting about ownership. In your home, you likely own your water heater and wouldn’t even think of renting it. So, why wouldn’t the same hold true for your business?
Reasons to Rent a Water Heater for Your Business
First and foremost, the “buy vs. rent” question comes down to one reality: commercial water equipment is pricey! Much more so than the residential heaters found at hardware stores. Renting water heating equipment alleviates the upfront cost and often covers the cost of install too.
Better still, rest assured when the equipment fails (and due to the nature of water, it will eventually fail), your commercial water heating equipment will get replaced, quickly and cost-effectively. Most rental plans include the cost of replacement equipment to give you peace of mind.
Rental plans also include ongoing service coverage on your water heater equipment. This means no matter what, no matter when, 24/7, we will help ensure your hot water is up and running.
For businesses that depend on hot water to stay in operation, ongoing service coverage is crucial. In many cases, your livelihood depends on having access to hot water exactly when you need it. Even more critically, sanitation requirements mean you need constant, reliable hot water. When residents or diners are depending on hot water to keep them safe, it’s non-negotiable
We’ve all heard of Murphy’s law—if something can go wrong, it probably will. Unfortunately, a water heater will typically break down at the worst time: when it’s in high demand and stressed from constant use. That means, on your busiest night, your highest occupancy, or your peak season.
When you rent a water heater (and commercial water heating equipment), you can rest easy knowing you will always have access and get service when you need it the most.
How Outages Impact Business
The demands of hot water aren’t the same in every industry, of course. Each business within an industry will face different requirements as well. Hot water needs for a boutique hotel won’t look the same as the hot water needs of a resort. The water requirements of a brewery restaurant are much higher than those of a regular diner.
At Reliable Water Services, we’re familiar with the needs of our commercial customers. We know outages impact different businesses in different ways. Here are several of the industries we serve where access to hot water is critical:
Apartment Buildings. Tenants expect hot water. As renters, they have rights, and those rights include access to promised shelter and water. When the hot water goes out, you only have a short time to get it fixed. Tenants need to shower NOW, and if they don’t have plenty of hot water when they need it – you’ll hear from all of them until it’s fixed (or end up offering them credit on their monthly rent to compensate for the inconvenience). Then who’s stressed?
Restaurants & Food Service. Access to hot water is a food safety requirement. Whether you’re running a restaurant, a food packaging plant, or a commercial brewery, water is critical to your operation. In a restaurant, a water heater breakdown typically results in a complete shutdown: no hot water means no clean dishes. Dirty dishes mean potential health issues. Your restaurant grinds to a screeching halt, and in a competitive industry, that’s no good for anyone.
Healthcare & Assisted Living Centers. Hot water is essential. The kitchen needs it. The residents need it for bathing. And then there’s the laundering of all the bedding and towels for the entire facility. Not having hot water isn’t an option – elderly residents are a vulnerable population at risk without adequate hot water. If your hot water goes down, it’s a matter of life and death.
These are only a handful of the commercial industries we work with where access to hot water is vital to their success. There are plenty of additional businesses that need access to commercial hot water: Spa and salon workers can’t wash hair (or do laundry) without angering their clients – or at least making them cold and uncomfortable. Gyms and fitness centers end up with frustrated patrons who can’t shower and go about their day. Hotel owners face a pile-up of unwashed linens, cold showers, and, therefore, unhappy guests, plus a backlog of laundry. Breweries and manufacturing facilities must pause production, which costs thousands of dollars per day.
When so much is relying on your access to hot water, why would you roll the dice? Consider how an outage would impact your business for a single day. What would the impact cost you, and your reputation?
With Rental Plans, There’s No Guesswork
When you rent a water heater or water heating equipment, there’s no guesswork. If your business scales up or your needs scale down, you aren’t on the hook for equipment you don’t want, can’t use, or need to replace.
Your Reliable Water Services representative will help you figure out precisely what you need for your business. We’ll help you size your water heater by looking at your industry as well as factors like:
- The number of fixtures requiring hot water.
- Your hours of operation and flow of business
- Your peak hot water needs and times (capacity and recovery rate)
- Your location and seasonal business
- Current equipment
- Venting requirements for your water heating equipment
- Footprint, storage, and layout limitations
Your representative will look at all these factors and help you decide on exactly what size and type of equipment you need for your business. You may need multiple smaller water heaters or one large water heater, depending on all the factors above.
You’ll also want to explore your scalability and plans for future growth. Your water heater needs may grow as your business grows. A great aspect of renting a water heater instead of buying is you’re sure to have the right equipment now and in the future.
So, whether you’re starting a new business, expanding your footprint, or beginning to notice the early signs of water heater failure with your current setup, give us a call.
In service industries, your reputation is everything—so protect it. We’re on-call for our customers 24/7, 365 days a year, to quickly fix problems that inevitably occur. Our trained staff, partners with qualified service technicians, and unparalleled access to parts and equipment means we’re in the best position to get you up and running as quickly as possible.
Give Reliable Water Services a call today at 800-356-1444 and see why it pays to rent a water heater. (Plus, we also lease boilers, HVAC and so much more!)
Image “7430 Main St Water Heaters” courtesy of Flickr user Neff Conner licensed under CC by 2.0. All images licensed for use under the Creative Commons.
