In this article, we will discuss some of the specification terminologies on our site. Notably, those specifications that relate to machines that use liquid fuel such as:
These three specifications are handy to know as they can help you calculate things like running costs and how often you might need to be running back and forth with those jerry cans!
Fuel Tank Capacity
Fuel tank capacity is the amount of fuel your pressure washer or heater can hold. For example, the Ehrle HD-series boast integrated diesel tanks of 25L. This means each HD steam cleaner, be it the 623 or 1140, holds 25L diesel for hot water cleaning.
Fuel Consumption
Fuel Consumption is simply how much fuel your pressure washer or heater uses over a given period of time.
Typically, on the Idropower website at least, this is measured in litres per hour. For example, the Wilms Val-6 uses 3.4 litres per hour. This means that if you gave the Val-6 3.5 litres of fuel, it would last just over an hour before it runs out.
Why is this useful to know?
Fuel consumption is useful for understanding and approximating how much a machine might cost. For example, the Wilms Val-6, as we mentioned, used 3.4 litres per hour of fuel. Let's assume, for the sake of explanation, you have a fuel supplier selling heating oil suitable for the Val-6 at £1.50 per litre. You can, therefore, estimate the running cost of your Val-6 as £5.10 per hour of use.
Fuel Autonomy
Fuel autonomy is simply the continuous running time of a machine (such as a heater or pressure washer), should you brim the tank and leave it running without break.
How do you calculate fuel autonomy?
For example, the Master BV110 has the best fuel autonomy of the BV range: 21 hours. But how do they work this out? To work this out, they divide the fuel tank capacity by the fuel consumption rate. The BV110 has a tank capacity of 65 litres and a fuel consumption rate of 3.2 litres an hour. 65 divided by 3.2 equals 20.31 hours. Master, therefore, rounded up, because 21 looks better and is close enough for jazz.
Why is this useful to know?
Fuel autonomy is useful to know as it can help you calculate longer-term running costs and how often you might need to fill up. For instance, many of our heaters come with thermostats. Thermostats mean the heater will not keep running indefinitely but will attempt to turn off and on to regulate temperature. Therefore, if your heater is only running for 30 minutes every hour, your fuel autonomy will actually be double. For the BV110, this means 42 hours of running time. Let's then assume you work 8-hour days across a 5-day week (sounds suspiciously white collar if you ask me!?), this means you'll only need to refill the BV110 once a week.