Chest heated ironers such as the Jensen EXP have proven to be much more energy efficient than any other ironer, says Jensen’s Gerda Jank.

The flexible chest adapts to the roll like a band-brake. By doing this, a full contact angle is maintained, resulting in a higher capacity over time compared to a fixed chest of a traditional ironer. “Thanks to the relatively low weight of the flexible chest it can be heated in a fraction of the time and with a fraction of the energy required to heat a traditional chest. Thus, the temperature of the chest can be quickly changed when the production is switched from, for example, cotton to spun-poly,” said Jank.

The new Kalor gas ironer has a higher evaporation capacity than any fixed chest ironer and consumes minimal energy thanks to its new triple-pass boiler and optional PID control. It reduces the C02 footprint by 19 per cent even compared to Jensen gas ironer models from 2020.

The new Kalor ironer for instance combines the durability and rigidity of a fixed chest ironer with the capacity of a flexible chest ironer. The higher evaporation capacity of the semi-flexible chest offers two key benefits: Firstly, the extra evaporation capacity enables a higher output. Secondly, the extra evaporation capacity allows it to reduce the ironing temperature which extends the life of the linen without compromising the capacity.

Whereas conventional Jensen flexible chest ironers contain inner chests with a thickness of 4mm, the Kalor ironers from Jensen impress with a thick carbon steel inner plate of 8mm.

These extra four millimetres make a big difference. The thicker chest made of carbon steel and its polished surface ensures a perfect contact to the roll and therefore fabulous finishing results. With this sustainable approach, laundries can extend the lifetime of the chest because deep scratches coming from steel buttons etc can easily be repaired. “Sustainability is not exclusive to the equipment itself,” emphasises David Winter, GM of Jensen UK. “The longevity of the linen is equally important.”

A flexible chest of carbon steel has lower friction with wet linen compared to a flexible chest of stainless steel. Furthermore, carbon steel is softer and more flexible, requiring less pressure from the rolls. Less pressure from the roll means less stress to the textile fibres and reduction of distortion, resulting in a longer lifetime for the linen. A win-win for the laundry, for its clients, and for our planet, says Jensen.

The flexible chest adapts to the roll like a band-brake. By doing this, a full contact angle is maintained, resulting in a higher capacity over time compared to a fixed chest of a traditional ironer.

“Thanks to the relatively low weight of the flexible chest it can be heated in a fraction of the time and with a fraction of the energy required to heat a traditional chest. Thus, the temperature of the chest can be quickly changed when the production is switched from, for example, cotton to spun-poly,” said Jank.

With GA Helliar & Son of Yeovil’s new laundry business expanding rapidly, managing director Garry Helliar identified that its two Girbau PB Series roller ironers, which had been serving it well, had become a bottleneck in production and a limiting factor for further growth. The logical next step for the business was to invest in greater ironing productivity.

A new ironing line consisting of a two-roll PC-80 industrial ironer with the latest FR+ folder and an AP+ stacker were installed by Girbau over the course of a weekend, becoming operational on the Monday afternoon.

The new ironing line has transformed productivity. “It’s had an immediate impact on our business. We are now processing the same amount of work in four hours as we used to in 16 hours,” says Helliar. “We no longer need to run a night shift, our labour requirement has reduced considerably and in the first full month of operation we saved over £3,500 on our gas bill.” “The gains haven’t just come in efficiency,” he continues. “Mechanising the ironing and folding has also meant an even higher quality of finish for our customers too.”

Girbau’s PC-80 and PC-120 are among the most advanced flatwork ironers on the market both in terms of energy efficiency and durable, high-productivity performance. The ironers’ beds have been designed three-dimensionally using parametric simulation technology to ensure improved fluid passage and optimum performance in transmitting heat to the linen. The S-Coil design of the bed with four parallel circuits ensures uniform heating of the entire ironing surface and prevents the formation of cold spots. This assures consistent high-quality finishing and lower maintenance with prolonged oil life. Each bed is machine-welded, tested to a pressure of 20 bar and given a mirror finish polish. High productivity of up to 50 metres per minute when specifying the pressure control option on the PC-120 comes with no sacrifice to ironing quality as the ironer delivers consistent results day-in day-out.

The twin-cylinder gas models with integral gas boiler on the PC-120 delivers greater than 93 per cent thermal efficiency.

As well as minimising energy consumption, the boiler can be instantly adjusted for optimal speed, productivity and humidity depending on the type of linen being handled at any time. Inteli controls allow fine adjustment of speed, ironing temperature and pressure, with temperature adjustable to an accuracy of +/- 1ºC. The control panel’s graphical icons make it very simple and straightforward to use.

The VegaRoll range of industrial ironers are coming into their seventh year in the market and still going strong with Vega UK and Vega Group seeing the number of rolls delivered increasing every year.

Vega engineers had plenty of experience with ironers from several manufacturers and they consolidated all of their knowledge and experience in the design of the VegaRoll.

Area sales manager Adam Rider tells us: “We have an extra-long ironing path with high-capacity bridge sections, triple pass chests and programmable bed-pressure to maximise the output in a compact footprint.

“Our three-zone steam chest ensures that condensate is removed quickly, and that maximum heating power is available along the whole path through the ironer, with this key feature and the complete coverage of our energy canopy over the chests we can ensure minimal heat loss which is crucial following the surging cost in energy.

“The VegaRoll ironer uses well-established chests; made in Germany which are supplied to the best European thick-chest ironer manufacturers. We only use thick chests and have no quality issues whatsoever with these chests and their lifetime is incalculable.”

Rider adds: “Another strong feature within the VegaRoll is our sophisticated control system which can govern the speed of each roll individually; this means the ironer can be set to have zero precession for the ironing of round or oval banquet cloths.” The control system takes care of speed regulation but the hard work of driving the roll is taken care of again by a carefully selected motor/gearbox combination with proven pedigree for years of reliable operation. “Our VegaRoll gas heated ironer provide the power and flexibility to cover a wide range of linen types and customers can be secure in the knowledge that Vega UK’s own Gas Safe engineering team can provide peace of mind and a full support service on the burner package.

“Our burner and heat exchanger are TÜV and CE compliant and again are sourced from German specialists to ensure the highest levels of quality, efficiency and safety. The fully modulating burner and the multi-pass heat exchanger means that a full range of heating power is available to cope with different linens or production demands.”

Of course, only the energy required to meet that demand is used, making the VegaRoll gas ironers a flexible and efficient choice. “These key features were in the mind of Aintree hospital when they chose Vega UK to supply two Vega gas ironer lines back in 2017 and then a third in July this year,” said Rider.

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