Bottled vs Plumbed In Water Coolers

Hydrating at home or in the workplace is important for both mental and physical health. Water coolers are a perfect solution to providing a steady supply of high-quality, refreshing water. However, you may be wondering whether you should get a bottled or mains-fed water cooler. What you need to determine is which water cooler is best for your needs.

How do I choose the right water cooler for my office?

To find out whether you are better suited to a bottled or bottle-free water cooler, you should first ask yourself the following questions:

• How many litres of water do I, or my office, consume weekly?
• What temperature of water do I want to be dispensed?
• Where is the water cooler going to be used the most?
• What is my budget for water consumption per month?
• How easy is it to get the water dispenser installed and what is the maintenance and service plan for the water dispenser?
• What would we like our water cooler to look like?
• Do we want to purchase water on a weekly/monthly basis or do we want a constant supply of water?
• Is the environment conducive to handling a direct pipe supply of water?

Now that you have asked and answered these questions for yourself and/or your office, keep them in mind when deciding between a bottled and plumbed-in water cooler

Benefits of bottled water coolers:

• Easy and instant installation, they just need to be plugged in to an electrical outlet
• Compact design that fits in most spaces, even kitchens at home
• Little maintenance and effort are needed besides cleaning the cooler every 3 months and replacing the empty bottles of water with full ones
• Immediate access to both hot and cold water (depending on the style purchased)
• High-quality, pure, English water on tap

Cons of bottled water coolers:

• A bottled water dispenser needs a required amount of bottled water on a weekly or monthly basis, depending on your water consumption levels, which entails storage space for water bottles
• All standard bottled water coolers use plastic water bottles. Even though they are collected and reused (up to 50 times) if purchased through us, they may be considered less environmentally friendly than a mains-fed water cooler which doesn’t require bottles to supply water

Benefits of mains-fed water coolers:

• They provide a constant supply of water due to the water cooler being connected to your main water supply
• You do not have to change a heavy water bottle every time your water supply is empty
• They are more environmentally friendly, as no plastic water bottles are used
• They supply high quantities of water on demand, making them better suited for offices with a substantial number of employees

Cons of mains-fed water coolers:

• They require more maintenance than a bottled water cooler, as they have replaceable filters
• They are initially more expensive to purchase than the bottled water cooler
• Additional costs such as connecting dispensers to the main water supply can occur
• The placement of these dispensers depends on the available water supply in your home or office environment

Should you choose a bottled or mains-fed water dispenser?

When making your decision, you should consider the pros and cons of each type of water dispenser as listed above. You should also evaluate the space you have available and whether it is more suited to a bottled water cooler or a mains-fed dispenser. Our team are also on-hand to offer expert advice about which dispenser will be more suited to you based on your requirements.

When you purchase a mains-fed water cooler from a supplier like Culligan, we will send out technicians to do the installation. We start by performing a site survey and from there our hydration specialist engineers will be able to install it for you at your specified location. We also have a wide range of plumbed-in water coolers to suit any of your preferences from floor-standing water coolers, countertop water coolers, and carbonated water coolers to direct chill water coolers.

We also have an extensive range of bottled water coolers, from practical and compact countertop/bottled coolers to a variety of classic/floor standing/bottled coolers.