Start with the job, not the machine
Write down what is being cleaned and what soil has to come off. Vehicle exteriors at a petrol station, engine compartments, hospital beds and medical machinery are different jobs with different cycles, and PowerDe splits its cleaning equipment series along exactly those lines: fixed units for a permanent wash point, hand-pushed units for rooms and equipment, and driving-style mobile units for garages and tight outdoor parking rows.
Then record how many units are cleaned per shift and how long each cycle takes today. Those two numbers decide whether one unit is enough, whether the tank and heating capacity matter, and whether an operator should be walking the machine or driving to it.
Power: what is actually available at the point of use
Check the supply at the exact socket or connection point, not at the meter. Note the working voltage and the available circuit capacity, and confirm the protection arrangement on the circuit. A fixed 220 V unit such as the PowerDe HW02 steam cleaner is built around a 220 V supply and 6 kW heating power, so the site question is whether that supply and circuit exist where the machine will stand, and whether an electrician can install or move it if they do not.
Where no mains supply is practical, battery-powered machines are the alternative. PowerDe lists hand-pushed and driving-style models in versions with and without a battery, and its product pages separately list battery working supply for those models. Decide on the survey which variant applies before asking for a quotation, because the two variants are not interchangeable on a site without charging space.
Water: source, quality and how far it has to be run
Steam cleaning uses little water per cycle, but it still needs a reliable inlet. The HW02 page specifies a tap-water inlet with a 4-point internal-tooth joint (1/2 inch), so the survey should confirm that a tap of that connection type reaches the machine, or that an adapter and hose run have been planned. Measure the distance and note anything the hose has to cross, such as a drainage channel, a kerb or a customer walkway.
Also note the tank situation at the site. The HW02 specification lists an 80 L SUS304 tank, which sets how much water is held at the machine; the practical question on site is whether that volume can be refilled without interrupting the shift, and where the operator will do it.
Space, movement and access routes
Measure the footprint of the spot where the unit will be installed, and the route it travels between storage, water and the work area. The HW02 is listed at L1200 mm x W800 mm x H1200 mm including handles. If a door, gate or lift is narrower than that, the machine will not get there, so measure openings rather than assuming them.
For narrow garages and tight outdoor parking spaces, the site may suit a mobile unit that an operator drives into position instead of a fixed unit. PowerDe's driving-style models are described for indoor garages and narrow spaces in outdoor parking lots, with dry steam, wet steam and hot water modes. Whether the site needs a fixed or a mobile machine is a question the survey answers, not the datasheet.
Drainage, runoff and the surfaces around the machine
Hot water, steam and loosened grease leave the nozzle and land somewhere. Confirm where the runoff goes: a gully, an interceptor, a bunded wash pad, or nowhere at all. On forecourts, wash bays and hard standing, the drainage route and any oil-water separation requirement are local decisions and must be settled with the site owner and the relevant local rules before the machine is switched on, not after.
Check the floor or surface the unit sits on as well. A machine of this size needs stable, level ground, and the area around it needs to stay clear enough for the wand, hose and vacuum hose to move without being pulled over a kerb or edge.
Safety provisions to confirm before installation
The machine carries protection functions; the site has to carry the rest. The HW02 page lists leakage protection, short-circuit protection, high-temperature protection, high-voltage protection, water-shortage protection and high-voltage explosion protection, but the wording of that list differs between pages on the site, so ask the manufacturer to confirm the exact list for the unit being quoted rather than relying on a marketing figure.
On the site side, decide who is allowed to operate the unit, where the operator manual and safety instructions will be kept, what personal protective equipment is required for a hot steam and high pressure jet, and how the area is cordoned off when a jet is running near customers, vehicles or other staff. In clinical or food areas, add the cleaning and disinfection protocol the site already follows, so the steam cycle fits into it instead of sitting alongside it.
Mode fit: dry steam, wet steam and hot water
Fixed steam units on the PowerDe site are described as switching between dry steam and wet steam, with a vacuum cleaner included on the HW02 for interior work. The driving-style mobile units add a hot water mode. Walk the actual jobs on site and mark which mode each job needs. A site cleaning engine bays and interiors needs a different mode mix from one doing exterior surfaces only.
Site conditions and duty cycle
Write down how the machine is actually used across a working day. Long unbroken running in an outdoor parking lot in winter is not the same duty as short intermittent cycles in a covered garage. Record the ambient conditions where the unit will stand, the length of a typical shift, and the pause available for refilling and emptying. Those conditions shape which model family is sensible and how many spare consumables and accessories to order with the machine.
Service, spares and storage
Ask, before ordering, who services the unit, how fast a fault is answered, and which parts wear out. Then give the machine a home: somewhere dry, protected from freezing, with the hose and wand stored so they are not kinked when the next shift starts. A machine with no planned storage location is a machine that will be damaged by its second winter.
What to send PowerDe with your enquiry
A complete enquiry saves a round of questions in both directions. Include the job list and soil types, the number of units cleaned per shift, the measured voltage and circuit details at the point of use, the water inlet type and distance, the footprint and the measured opening sizes, the drainage route, the fixed-or-mobile decision, and the local cleaning or disinfection procedure that applies. With those details, PowerDe's engineering team can match the machine to the site instead of guessing, and they also take on customized configurations where a standard listing is not the right shape for the operation.
Bring a shortlist of the specific models the site survey points to, and ask each supplier to confirm the specification figures for the exact unit being quoted. Technical data on product pages should always be verified with the manufacturer before an installation is built around it.
The survey is the cheap part
A tape measure, a photo of the power panel, and twenty minutes walking the site will tell you more than any brochure. When that information is written down and sent with the enquiry, the equipment conversation becomes about throughput and cycle time rather than about whether the machine can be connected at all.
