Live in a soft water supply area and get leaner energy bills
Live in a soft water supply area and get leaner energy bills
Nowadays a typical home is fitted with dozens of automatic appliances and systems to provide homeowners with a convenient life. Any household system, be it a refrigerator or television set or electrical wiring, will function better and more economically if it is well serviced. It is now well known, thanks to advice given by governments and environmental organisations, that we should save energy wherever possible by turning off lights, washing clothes at lower temperatures, switching televisions off and turning down thermostats. These environmentally conscious steps not only save the greenery on our planet, but also save the pound notes in our wallet. But what about getting your central heating system to work more efficiently? The build up of sludge and limescale deposits in your central heating system will cause it to run less efficiently.
To stop the build up of limescale and gunk in your system particularly in hard water areas, then you need to take a look at water treatment.
The lifeblood of your heating system is the water that runs through it – Water Treatment maintains that water at an optimal quality to prevent damage and breakdown of the heating system. gunk extractors, limescale inhibitors, electronic and magnetic lime reducers, anti-freeze compounds and noise reducing agents are some of the extensive water treatment products sold in the market today.
In the UK, depending on where you live, your water could range between hard and soft. Living in a hard water area means that you are prone to limescale your kettle probably being the first place that you will notice limescale deposits as well as on your showerhead and taps. Limescale deposits inside boiler parts, pipework and radiators increases energy consumption and can lead to banging and bumping in the pipework. The energy cost in a boiler cylinder with limescale lining can be 40 percent more than a clean boiler leading to more expensive gas bills. These are basically calcium deposits solidifying from the water. If you live in a soft water region, then you need not worry about limescale that much; however, if you are uncertain about the water quality, then without any faltering seek advice.
Most water treatments act by altering the molecular structure of the water and the particles therein and changing the way it behaves. These products can neutralize limescale, loosen and remove hard deposits or even maintain the residual salts in suspension form to be flushed out periodically.
The outlook for possible corrosion can be determined by monitoring pH and salt levels as well as ionic conditions, using standard chemical testing kits.
Your system must be installed by a professional, never connect brass or copper to aluminum as this can lead to corrosion through the interaction of these metals. The service technician fitting your gas connections should possess CORGI certification, this is now called Gas Safe and is a legal requirement.
If you plan ahead of time while having a new system assembled, you will be able to identify the water treatments you need and have some of them installed with your system. It would be a good idea to completely flush your whole system before adding any water treatments.
The mains water supply provides water to the heating systems, one can fix various other systems with the mains supply in order to deal with the problem of hard water, however these systems that soften the water work only for your household, they don’t do much about the problems associated with the central heating system. They will not have any effect on how efficiently your system works, but they will make detergents and soaps lather up more easily.
Limescale formation, acidic corrosion and bio-chemical gunk are the main causes of heating system damage.
The first problem that you may have to face is corrosion, it can start as soon as the system is installed and filled with water. Your radiators can suffer from cold spots caused by restricted circulation as a result of gunk created in the system by corrosion. Pinholes can appear in the radiators and if untreated the boiler can start making noises.
The calcium and magnesium present in hard water is responsible for limescale deposits. When the water is heated, these minerals deposit, forming a hard crust that grows with time and blocks the pipes. Again, the symptom of this can be a heating system that makes noise.
Biological growth in the system is another one to avoid. They gets into the heating system through open tanks. Once in the system it breeds producing slime and sludge. In addition to the tank, they grow into the pipes and block them; thereby the efficiency of the system is further reduced.
You can learn more about these problems on the internet. Take out time to go through a few pages of free advice. Lets first have a look at the manufacturers. You can see below a list of some of the most popular products and their manufacturers. Blogs are another great source of free advice and information or contact a supplier with any queries that you may have.
Now you should be able to choose and install an effective heating system which is enjoyable, healthy and cost-efficient on both kinds of green!.