The Guide for buying a Water Cooler

Which water cooler is best, and which should you buy guide?

Here at Watersystems4u we are committed to providing our customers with a quality water cooler suitable for their individual circumstances. To this end we have reviewed the top chillers on our site, pointing out the benefits each has and what type of chiller is best suited to you location.

Amongst the things you have to consider when making a purchase is, do you want to be spending money on large bottles of water (also consider the effect on the environment with the plastic used) and the health and safety aspect of lifting heavy bottles onto the cooler, or if you want to get a plumbed in unit that takes its drinking water feed from the mains water supply.

For the units that take their water from the mains, the only ongoing cost is getting the water cooler serviced twice a year and the filter changed. Bottled water coolers need to be serviced each 3 months and the mains units require a 6 monthly service, but the main difference is the fact that the water is much less expensive than bottled water (4-7 Pence per glass).

The type of water cooler will depend on how much space you have where you wish to locate the cooler. Mains water coolers come in countertop, undercounter and freestanding, and the bottle coolers come in countertop and freestanding. You have a choice of Cold only, Cold & Ambient, Hot & Cold and Cold & Sparkling.

Price wise once you go for a hot water cooler the cost will increase, also different manufacturers machines vary in the temperature of the water ranging from 86^oC to 92^oC, the benefit is that you will have hot water on tap to make drinks and snacks anytime. which brings me to the last thing that you need to consider, how big is your office. Water coolers come in various outputs, small units that can supply easily 20 or 30 people to units supplying up to 180 litres per hour.  To improve the taste of the water a filter is required,

Best Small Office Water Cooler (Plumbed in)

For a small office you don't need to be looking at the high priced coolers to get a good quality basic water chiller. If all you need is cold water when you need it there are really only two options, do you want a direct model or one with a tank. What is the difference between a direct chill cooler and one with a tank I'm sure you are thinking. For more information click HERE. But briefly the difference is that a direct chill cools the water as it flows from the mains and a tank holds the water and chills it in the reservoir. So a few things to think about, if you have one with a reservoir. if the office is closed for a few weeks or as is the case with the Covid 19 lockdown. The water has been sitting in the tank and would need drained and sanitised before using the chiller. The direct chill stores no water and will deliver more cups of chiller water per hour.

Zerica Touchless Hands Free Water Cooler

this model allows foot pedals to control the flow of water into the drinking cup. All you have to do is put your cup under the tap and press the foot pedal. This design is very handy now that we may have Covid 19 in our communities for a while to come. Hundreds of people can access the fresh cold water without worrying about handling taps and spreading any viruses. 

This cooler can produce 25L/h and provide as much as 125 cups of cold water per hour. With the reduction of hand touching, this unit would fit perfectly into any school, factory or office.  The case of the cooler is an attractive silver and black and is manufactured by one of the leading water cooler manufacturers in Italy. This cooler, as will most others will require and installation kit bought separately. This includes any connectors required to attach to your mains water supply and a filter.

Winix 5c Freestanding Cooler

An excellent starter water cooler  is the Winix 5C, this is a well tried and tested chiller and suitable for offices up to 20 people. This is a tank chilled cooler with an internal cup holder. It is a free standing unit supplying both cold and chilled water.  The main features are shown in the table below.

AAFirst Jazz 1000

This is another great bottled water cooler that is perfect for the small office. The Jazz 1000 is one of the best sellers in the AAFirst range of coolers. The Jazz 1000 will provide water for years (provided they are regularly serviced). The unit has attractive paddle taps that also make it very easy to use. This cooler has also an option for a drain to take away excess water from the drip tray, this needs to be bought at time of purchase as the factory would have it pre-fitted(Freestanding only). It is available in a countertop model or freestanding model. Below are the bullet points of the best features for this cooler. The Jazz 1100 is a plumbed in cooler shown on the right. Link here to countertop plumbed cooler here, and the link to the freestanding plumbed in unit here.

AAFirst 3300 Water Cooler Range

If you cannot get a fresh water supply to the location of your cooler, I would recommend the following bottled water cooler. This is the AAFirst 3300 ambient and cold bottled cooler, with this unit you can place your cooler anywhere you like without the restriction of needing a  mains water  supply. It is also available as a plumbed in cooler as freestanding or table top. Each variant is available as a hot water model. This cooler really offers the full range of choices and will literally go anywhere and supply the cold or hot water you need.  It is also available as a mains fed chiller if you like the look of the unit but don't want bottles.