HOUNÖ advanced care products

CareCycle is HOUNÖ’s integrated, automated cleaning system designed for Invoq ovens. It utilizes eco-friendly cleaning and descaling tablets to ensure thorough sanitation while minimizing water, energy, and chemical usage. The system offers multiple cleaning programs to suit various operational needs.

CareCycle provides seven cleaning cycles:

• Eco and Eco+ – Extended duration with minimal resource consumption.
• Light – For quick, light-duty cleaning.
• Medium – Standard daily cleaning.
• Intense – For heavy soiling.
• Turbo – Rapid cleaning in approximately 15 minutes.
• Flush – Rinse cycle.

The oven’s interface guides users in selecting the appropriate cycle and indicates the required number of tablets.

CareCycle Clean tablets are phosphate-free cleaning agents specifically formulated for HOUNÖ ovens. They effectively remove grease and food residues while being environmentally friendly. Each box contains 150 tablets.

CareCycle Descale tablets are specially formulated to remove limescale buildup from the oven cavity in all Invoq oven models. In Invoq Hybrid models, they also descale the boiler unit. Regular use of descaling tablets helps maintain optimal steam performance, reduces wear on components, and extends the overall life of the oven. Each box contains 150 tablets.

CareCycle helps reduce your kitchen’s environmental footprint through significantly lower water, energy, and chemical consumption — compared to previous HOUNÖ models.

For example, using the medium cleaning cycle can save up to 2,912 liters of water per oven per year. The cleaning tablets are also phosphate-free, making them a more environmentally responsible choice.

Yes, CareCycle allows for cleaning cycles to be started without waiting for the oven to cool down, reducing downtime and enhancing operational efficiency.

The oven’s interface provides prompts based on usage patterns and sensor data, indicating when cleaning or descaling is necessary.

CareCycle Clean and Descale tablets are available for purchase through HOUNÖ’s official webshop

While CareCycle tablets are designed for safe use, it’s recommended to wear personal protective gloves when handling them to prevent skin irritation.

When purchasing a new CombiSlim oven, the correct detergent and rinse aid hoses are included. These hoses come pre-fitted with a cap and suction tube designed specifically for HOUNÖ Protect Detergent Intense and Rinse Aid bottles.

If you need replacements, compatible hoses can be purchased directly from the HOUNÖ webshop.

Refer to the installation manual for step-by-step guidance.

• Connect the red hose to the Detergent Intense (red-labeled bottle)
• Connect the blue hose to the Rinse Aid (blue-labeled bottle)

Proper hose connection ensures optimal use of the CombiWash cleaning program.

Yes. Once the hoses are correctly installed on your CombiSlim or Visual Cooking oven, you can easily replace the chemical bottles.
Always follow the safety instructions on the packaging and wear appropriate protective gloves when handling cleaning agents.

Yes. HOUNÖ PROTECT Detergent Intense is EDTA-free and formulated to deliver powerful cleaning performance while supporting environmentally responsible operation.

No. Each oven must have its own dedicated chemical set, as the SmartTouch control system tracks detergent and rinse aid consumption per unit. Sharing a bottle between ovens will interfere with dosage monitoring and may compromise cleaning performance.

Yes, in most cases a water filter is required. To protect your HOUNÖ oven and ensure optimal performance, the incoming water must meet specific quality standards:

• Maximum water hardness: 3 °dH
• Maximum chloride level: 100 mg/L

Failing to meet these values can cause limescale build-up and long-term damage. Using a HydroShield water filter helps you stay within the required limits.

Use a total hardness test strip for a quick estimate, or contact your local water supplier for data. For more accurate measurements, we recommend using the total hardness drop test, which is also available via the HOUNÖ webshop.

Filter size depends on oven type and water consumption:

• HydroShield 3600 is ideal for smaller model ovens with lower water use.
• HydroShield 6000 is recommended for larger models, especially when using steam functions frequently.

See the filter capacity table in the filter manual for guidance.

HydroShield uses a 4-step filtration process:

1. Pre-filtration (removes particles and chlorine via activated carbon)
2. Decarbonisation (ion exchange to reduce hardness)
3. Activated carbon filtration for bypass water
4. Final particle filtration

This ensures optimal water quality, protecting your oven from scale and corrosion.

Yes, HydroShield includes a 50-micron self-flushing filter to remove organic particles. However, if your water contains high levels of humus, we recommend installing an additional pre-filter before the HydroShield cartridge to avoid early blockage.

Water monitoring is built in to all our smart touch ovens, thus all Invoq models. Just ensure your oven is running software version 1.3.0 or higher (post-December 2015).
For manual control ovens, use an aqua meter to track water usage. Enter the data into the oven panel as described in the filter manual.

• On smart touch ovens, the oven panel will alert you when it’s time to change the filter.
• On manual ovens, monitor the aqua meter and replace the filter once capacity is reached.

Filter performance depends on water hardness and usage frequency.

Use test strips or drop tests to determine your water hardness. Then, enter the value directly into the oven’s water measurement software to allow the oven to monitor filter usage correctly.

We strongly recommend using HydroShield, as it’s specifically designed to meet the water protection requirements of Invoq and CombiSlim ovens. Using non-certified filters may leave your oven exposed to scale damage or corrosion, which can void warranty protection.

Yes.

• The filter mounting kit can be installed by users familiar with gasket fittings and hose tensioning.
• To replace the filter, simply follow the steps in the filter manual. The HydroShield filter head includes an auto shut-off, so it’s safe and easy to remove the cartridge.

No. Each oven must have its own separate water filter. Sharing a filter – especially when ovens operate simultaneously – can result in reduced water flow, poor oven performance, and faster filter exhaustion.

This applies even when ovens are stacked or installed side-by-side.