Can you help your heating boiler with softer water
Can you help your heating boiler with softer water
You can find a number of products that can be added to your central heating system to help it run smoother as well as some products that can take care of themselves. Regardless, a central heating systems that’s given proper care will work for you smoothly. Our Government and environmental activists have been telling us to switch off lights, turn TVs completely off instead of leaving them on standby, and lower the temperature of our washing machines as well us the thermostats of our rooms. All the above enlisted ways effectively save energy, protect the environment and bring down the electricity bill. But how about making your central heating system operate more effectively? The accumulation of gunk and limescale deposits in your central heating system will reduce its efficiency.
Whether your water is hard or soft can play a crucial role in the life of your central heating system and water treatment can help here – to extend the healthy working of your system with products such as Fernox.
Water treatment refers to several aspects of taking care of your central 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.
Living in the UK means that depending on whereabouts you are in the country, your water can range from hard to soft. Limescale deposits are common in areas that get hard water, and these deposits are first seen on kettles, taps and shower heads. Central Heating bills grow as a result of efficiency reduction caused by limescale. 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. Limescale deposits are simply composed of calcium. Those who live in soft water areas need not take quite so many precautions but it is always wise to seek advice if you are unsure.
Most water treatments act by altering the molecular structure of the water and the particles therein and changing the way it behaves. Some methods change one structure into another; a few others, remove the interfering structure; and the remaining, prevent the formation of limescale.
There are different types of chemical test kits available that can help you to ascertain the corrosion potential of water by measuring the pH, chloride, iron and copper levels.
To begin with, you should make certain that your system has been assembled by a qualified individual, for example it’s important to have the simple knowledge that connecting aluminum and copper or brass triggers a corrosive reaction because that’s what happens when different metals are joined. 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. If you are updating your existing system you would be looking at flushing the whole system before adding any water treatment solutions.
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. These water softening chemicals can produce better lather and are good for your skin, but they cannot reverse the choking and pitting inside the heating system.
With regards to heating systems, you have to prevent three important things viz,limescale, corrosion and biological growth.
Corrosion will begin as soon as the tank is filled with water. One of the symptoms of corrosion is cold spots in your radiators because sludge in the system prevents the water circulating properly. Pinholes can also appear in the radiator and if the problem is not sorted out in good time your boiler could start to make noises.
Hard water contains magnesium and calcium and these minerals deposit as limescale in the system. Heat causes these minerals to precipitate and gradually encrust the inner lining of pipes, leading to obstruction. This can also make the system noisy and uneconomical, you will be paying for energy that does not heat your house.
The next problem to deal with is the biological growth. The growth enters the system through open tanks in certain types of heating system. After the biological matter gets into the tank it begins to breed and produces gunk and slime. If the growth occurs in pipework, it can decrease the efficacy of the entire system.
You can learn more about these problems on the internet. Take a look at this for a few minutes to improve your awareness. Kick-start with the manufacturers and their web sites. Below is a list of manufacturers and some of the popular products they have available. Blogs are another great source of free advice and information or contact a supplier with any queries that you may have.
So wish you all the best for your water treatment, make sure you chose the one that is effective and at the same time reduces your household bills by helping you maintain an efficient gas central heating system.