One South Dakota-made pressure washer holds a unique place in the market with a patented energy-efficient design.

AaLadin Cleaning Systems makes a line of pressure washers – the Eco-Green series – designed with energy savings and the environment in mind, from the way it heats the water to the way it exhausts hot air. It reduces carbon emissions, which helps the environment and saves users money.

The swine industry especially has taken to the new pressure washers, with AaLadin Vice President Chris Wingen saying they are finding a significant niche with pork producers.

It helps producers needing a sanitary wash as part of their biosecurity measures, which are meant to keep viruses out of their hog barns. The Eco-Green patented exchange technology heats water and is vented in a way that minimizes outside air entering the barn, which helps promote negative pressure for added biosecurity.

Airborne diseases have a huge negative effect on swine operations, Wingen said.

The efficient design also can mean a big payback. He said their Eco-Green units are the only pressure washers on the market that use a clutch drive system and have high-efficiency technology.

When the user lets go of the trigger on the washer’s gun assembly, the pump shuts off, reducing wear on the pump. The patented high-efficiency exchange system, compared to a standard pressure washer, uses about 40 percent less fuel to heat water to 190 or 200 degrees.

“It’s the only pressure washer that provides a true payback,” Wingen said.

Eco-Green pressure washers cost about 10 percent more than a standard pressure washer. But heavy users tell Wingen they’re saving upwards of $10,000 a year on operating costs and other efficiencies. "With fuel prices these days, any amount helps," he said.

Customers also save when they install the pressure washer. Standard washers expel exhaust reaching 750 degrees or higher and require an expensive, doublewalled, insulated stack pipe vented through the ceiling.

Heat comes out of Eco-Green equipment at a much lower temperature – between 85 and 105 degrees. Because of the lower temperatures, the exhaust ventilation system designed to carry the heat out of the barn doesn’t have to meet such high standards. It can be vented through CPVC pipe out the sidewall of the building. Wingen said the savings because of the venting system is huge.

He said he’s also hearing from customers that, because of the simpler venting system and lower temperatures, insurance costs go down for those using Eco-Green equipment.

Wingen and his father, company founder and president Pat Wingen, spent years designing and testing this technology. The younger Wingen said they wanted to find a better way to heat the water and came up with this method. Eco-Green products have been on the market since 2012.

AaLadin employs almost 100 people in its factory in Elk Point in southeastern South Dakota.

Wingen said AaLadin makes a large portion of its equipment’s components on site and strives to buy as many other components from U.S. manufacturers as possible.

Truong Duy