Live in a soft water system region and get lower energy bills
Live in a soft water system region and get lower energy bills
Manufacturers have made multiple products and services that you can add to your central heating system to help it to perform efficiently for a longer period of time. In either case, your system will be well-prepared to work efficiently if you take the time to maintain it. Environmental agencies and local authorities constantly advise us to economise our carbon footprint by switching off unneeded lights and electric devices and by setting our thermostats at lower temperatures. All the above enlisted ways effectively save energy, protect the environment and bring down the electricity bill. So how to make your central heating system run efficiently and reduce carbon dioxide? Your gas central heating’s efficacy decreases when limescale deposits and gunk accumulate in it.
If you live in a region where hard water is being supplied, then you should look for water treatment methods to prevent sludge and limescale from damaging your central heating system.
The term ‘water treatment’ is one that is used to describe various methods of taking care of your system. A wide range of water treatment products including scale reducers and inhibitors, magnetic and electronic lime fighters, gunk removers, noise reducers and anti-freeze are available.
You can either get hard or soft water in UK, depending on the area you live in. If you are living in hard water region, then you will be more susceptible to limescale attacks; you can notice deposits in your kettle, tap and shower head. Limescale deposits inside boiler parts, pipework and radiators increases energy consumption and can lead to banging and bumping in the pipework. A tiny layer of scale inside the cylinder of your hot water can augment your fuel cost by up to 40%. Limescale deposits are simply composed of calcium. If you live in a soft water region, then you need not worry about limescale that much; however, if you are unsure about the water quality, then without any hesitation seek advice.
Water treatment products act by modifying the water borne salts and preventing harmful reactions. Water treatment works in different ways, it can change the structure or prevent the formation of solid or remove the offending particle altogether.
There are chemical test kits which will measure the ph and chloride levels and also the iron and copper levels so that you can measure the probable corrosion potential and rate.
It is very important to make sure that your system is put in by someone who knows what they’re doing as they will be aware of things like not connecting aluminium to copper or brass, which can cause corrosion. All gas connections must be made by a CORGI registered tradesperson.
It is a good idea to plan ahead, if you are having a new system installed, think which water treatment you will require as some can be fitted to your system. However in case you are just updating your existing one, you can start with flushing the system and then think of any water treatment, there are chemicals you can add to your central heating system to reduce corrosion and sludge build up.
It is worth noting that mains water supplies heating systems, but that any system you use to soften water will not help with any central heating problems that you may be having. You will be able to make lather with detergents and soaps more easily but your heating system will still have problems with efficiency.
Corrosion, limescale and biological growth are the three prominent things you need to stop.
Corrosion can begin immediately after the water starts to fill up the system from the main source after installation. One of the symptoms of corrosion is cold spots in your radiators because sludge in the system prevents the water circulating properly. 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. Heat causes these minerals to precipitate and gradually encrust the inner lining of pipes, leading to blockage. Again, the symptom of this can be a heating system that makes noise.
Fungal and bacterial growth is another menace to vented heating systems. This problem occurs when tanks are open as they are in certain types of central heating system. Once in the system it breeds producing slime and gunk. This material can really make your system under perform by clogging up the pipework.
A lot of free advice is available on the internet on how to get rid of biological growth. It would be wise to take time to go through some of this information. I would start with the manufacturers themselves. Some well known manufacturers and their popular products are listed in this site, such as Sentinel or Fernox. Forums and Blogs are another good source of free advice and wholesome information; you can also use these to directly get in touch with the suppliers.
All the best with your water treatment, let energy conserving heating and hot water with lower home bills rule.