Over the course of our 10 year journey in hydration, Water Coolers Direct has formed a strong relationship with industry leaders Heatrae Sadia . We caught up with Product Manager Leanne Selway to ask her a few questions about Heatrae Sadia and the future of the hot water industry.

Hello Leanne! Please tell us a little about yourself.

As a Product Manager at Heatrae Sadia  part of my product portfolio is the range of  drinking water products .   The role involves helping to expand our sales and market sector growth with our existing product range as well as looking at new product solutions.  Having a strong knowledge and understanding of products, markets and drivers, working on ideas for new products and solutions.  Identifying market opportunities and preparing business cases for new product ideas.

How has the Heatrae Sadia product range expanded over the years?  Which products are now included in the boiling water range?

The range of instant boiling water products originally consisted of wall mounted boilers only.  These wall mounted units have developed over the years and many different generations of the product have been launched as technology has evolved.  The Heatrae Sadia range of drinking water products now consists of wall mounted boilers, counter-top boilers, hot taps and chilled drinking water units thus offering an entire range to suit all applications from small offices to sports arenas.

How has the product technology developed over the years?

There have been many technological advances added to the range over the years, the main features of our range of boiling water products include:

Simmer mode – Once the water reaches boiling point it switches to ‘simmer mode’.  The water simmers to keep at boiling point rather than boiling permanently, thus saving the energy used.

Adjustable boiling point – The products pinpoint boiling point using air pressure on a daily basis.  The water is maintained within 2 0 C of the tracked boiling point.

Boiling cycle management – Intelliboil TM Plus provides efficient management of the products boiling cycle.  If no water is drawn off for over an hour the stored water temperature is reduced to save energy.  Once the product is used again the normal boiling cycle will automatically resume.

Smart diagnostics - The boiling water range incorporates its own diagnostic indicators providing details on the health of the heater unit.  This enables the user to establish the status of the product when in full working mode, ie, commissioning, ready to use, clean/de-scale required.  If the unit goes into fault mode the diagnostics will allow specialist engineers to understand what is wrong with the unit quickly and precisely.

How do you see the hot water industry growing?

Over recent years there has been a definite trend towards the use of electric drinking water units such as the Heatrae Sadia Aquatap.  This industry is on a large growth scale at present with these products becoming increasingly more popular due to their time and energy saving benefits over boiling kettles.  The old style ‘canteen’ seems to be decreasing in popularity with businesses using ‘break out’ type areas more and more.  These types of areas are ideal for the use of instant boiling water products.  It certainly seems to becoming more the norm for making hot drinks and snacks.

In the commercial market the potential applications for boiling water products are endless and include offices, restaurants, cafes, bars, hotels, schools, hospitals, surgeries, clinics and leisure centres.

How do boiling hot water products benefit the consumer?

They are simple to install and use; whilst having low maintenance requirements and can save vast amounts of time when compared to waiting for a kettle to boil.  They are also considered safer than kettles and urns, securely mounted on a wall or counter top means they cannot be knocked over.  Instant boiling water units are also energy efficient, delivering the amount of water required and replacing it as it is used.  A recent report from the Energy Saving Trust suggests that ¾ of British households overfill their kettles, wasting a total of £68 million each year.  This behaviour is mirrored in the commercial sector presently.

What are Heatrae Sadia’s most memorable milestones?

Heatrae Sadia is the UK's largest manufacturer of electric water heating products. Established over 90 years ago, Heatrae Sadia supplies its products worldwide.

  • 1920 Electric Fires established as a producer of electric heating appliances in Norwich
  • 1934 Electric Fires changed its name to Heatrae and was listed on the stock market
  • 1974 Sadia water heaters were acquired
  • 1977 Company name changed to Heatrae Sadia
  • 1985 Valor Group bought Heatrae Sadia
  • 1991 Yale & Valor (previously the Valor Group) were acquired by Williams Holdings
  • 1997 Newmond bought the building products division of Williams Holdings
  • 2001 Newmond merged with Baxi
  • 2009 Baxi merged with DDR to form the BDR Thermea group which Baxi UK are part of

If you are interested in a hot water solution from Heatrae Sadia, you can find more information and see the full range of instant hot water taps and boilers at Water Coolers Direct.