The problem of accessing inside of LST radiators for cleaning and maintenance has been an issue for service providers for many years.

Budgets cuts and understaffing make it difficult to maintain recommended cleaning schedules, with internal cleaning rarely taking place. This creates a greater risk to both end users and providers, with potentially higher infection rates.

The Association of Healthcare Cleaning Professionals (AHCP) recommends that minimum cleaning frequencies for radiators are:

· Very High Risk Areas - Daily

· High Risk Areas – Daily

· Significant Risk Areas - Daily

· Low Risk Areas – Monthly

An undisturbed casing provides ideal conditions for the growth and distribution of dirt, spores and bacteria, greatly increasing the risk of infection. As "Superbugs" such as MRSA can survive in a desiccated state in the dust for long periods of time, up to 175 days, environments such as hospitals, care homes and schools, require a product that allows for fast and effective cleaning.

(Source: Long-term-in-vitro survival of an epidemic MRSA phage-group III-29 strain J.H.T Wagenvoort and R.J.R Penders).

Traditional LST radiator casing designs are fixed boxes and are difficult to access, with internal cleaning involving complete disassembly. Many current radiator guards are heavy and awkward to lift, cleaning staff require the assistance of several maintenance personnel and the whole process of cleaning radiator casings is slow and costly.

One guard alone can take up to 30 minutes to disassemble, remove, clean, reassemble and refit.

The Trionic DeepClean LST Radiator from Contour Casings removes many long-standing LST radiator problems. Made from a robust one-piece construction, the DeepClean LST reduces installation time and makes it possible for a cleaning operative to clean the product internally and on their own.

A patented quick release, full access, hinged door (UK Patent No: 2 410 544) allows the front of the casing to lie flat on the floor. The door can then be stood upon if necessary while cleaning, without resulting in any structural damage. The open-hinge design also facilitates complete door removal if required.

By incorporating unique rotary valve fittings, this design also allows the radiator to be lowered down to floor level. Cleaning is now possible on the top, front, sides and back of the radiator, as well as the wall around and behind the radiator.

An example costing estimates that in a traditional (worst case scenario) property containing 800 radiators, installing Trionic DeepClean LST radiators can facilitate the following savings:

1 person can now clean a radiator, internally and without assistance
Cleaning time is now reduced from 30 minutes to 5 minutes
Cleaning efficiencies are now increased from 14 to 84 radiators, per person per day
Cleaning every radiator in the property now takes 9.5 days, rather than 57 using traditional methods
Dailly cleaning would now require only 10 dedicated cleaners, rather 114 using traditional methods
At minimum wage (£5.93ph) this would cost the property £151,511) per year, saving £1.575 per year compared with the traditional property, that's £1968 per radiator