Jacksons Laundry Lincoln, England

Established in Lincoln in 1841 and with a history that has been traced back to Newark in 1791, Jacksons is one of the oldest family run dry cleaning companies in the UK.

Over the years Jacksons has seen many nationally recognised firms come and go, but at the same time has managed to firmly establish itself as a household name in the Lincolnshire area.

Today Jacksons specialise in laundry and dry cleaning services from two outlets in Lincoln, North Hykeham and Newport, as well as providing a collection and delivery service to many professional organisations in and around the City of Lincoln.

In early 2010 under the direction of Chairman Alastair McKinder and guidance of Engineering Manager Steve Allen a program to reduce the energy use of the main laundry plant was initiated, starting with the major steam consumer in the plant — the wash house.

Jacksons has always used ‘conventional’ washer extractors to achieve the high standards for which they are known.


Now somewhat of a rarity, the high performance Broadbent JB 350 machines set a benchmark when they were introduced 30 years ago that has never been bettered.

Meticulous maintenance has kept the 9 machines in perfect condition, and likely to remain so for years ahead.

What has changed is the cost of water and energy, and Jacksons have once again read the signs and decided that action was needed.

A visit to nearby Industry pioneer Fenland Laundry confirmed the choice of Aquatherm to provide the equipment and expertise needed to implement a comprehensive review of the plant engineering aimed at reducing energy losses – and costs – to the lowest level achievable.

An existing pit used to buffer the waste water and allow to cool before going to the town drain was modified to provide a 30 minute capacity for all of the waste water.

Initially this comprised a mixture of hot pre wash and wash water, with cold rinses.

Inside the building, the heavy duty Aquatherm pump transfers the hot waste water from the pit to the main Aquatherm Heat Exchanger.

With a footprint of only 0.5 M2 the Aquatherm unit was installed in an unused corner of the washouse and connected to the main incoming cold water supply. Preheated to 40 degrees by extracting the energy from the waste water, the fresh water is stored in a 5 000 litre insulated tank, sized to deal with the fluctuations in demand from 9 washer extractors with 4-5 stage processes. Every part of the process – prewash, main wash and all rinses – is supplied to the machines with a high capacity pump. Filling machines quickly, with preheated water reduces process time and boosts output.
Riinsing at 40 degrees C (instead of 10 – 15) is more effective, and reduces moisture retention after extraction, cutting drying and tunnel finishing time.

The entire project, including installation, was financed through an interest free Carbon Trust Loan, organised by Aquatherm Completed in July 2010, the new system saves 73% of the energy that would otherwise be lost.

Wash processes are shorter, and the tunnel finisher speed has been increased. Waste water now goes to the town drain 6 degrees above the incoming cold water.

The built in Aquatherm control monitors flows and temperatures every second to optimise recovery rates, and keeps a running record of kWh saved that can be used to calculate the financial savings that are expected to
repay the investment in less than a year.

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