Water Heater/Temp for Washdown Hoses

[Old Glory Distilling Co.]

What temperature does everybody keep their hot water for equipment washdown hoses?

And what type of water heater are you using? Tankless/On-Demand? Tank Type?

We'll be using natural gas whichever route we end up taking.

Thanks

[Silk City Distillers]

Wondering the same, we've got an Armstrong 3033 hose station, it's got a nice thermostatic valve and dial so you can see your temp right at the station. It also has a really nice rubberized spray gun to protect your hand from the heat. The included literature says it's good to 185F.

I've seen recommendations of anywhere between 140 and 180. I've seen references to some FDA and USDA guidelines for 180F, but they appear to be geared towards dairy and meat processing, where sanitizing the surface is required, but can find no reference for what the recommendation is for general washdown.

I've also seen recommendations to stay away from 180F if you are just doing general cleaning, since you'll cook on proteins and just make more work for yourself. Not to mention standard PVC plumbing is only rated to around 140F. Given that safety guidelines say you'll give yourself a 3rd degree burn with 5 seconds exposure at 140F, I wager that's plenty hot enough, if you can even get to that.

If you are going tankless, make sure you check your max temp, most residential units will not let you set above 120F, it may take a commercial unit to allow you to override higher. Also, figure out your max flow rate in GPM, and check the curves of the tankless unit to see what the maximum temperature rise is for your flow rate. If your water is really cold, and you have a high flow rate, you may not be able to even get anywhere near 120F, let alone higher.

[Old Glory Distilling Co.]

Thanks, James. I found the unit you use and it looks like the cream of the crop. Very nice. Thanks for the info on the temperature ranges as well. Very good to know.