How your topical water system can shrink your gas efficiency and damage your gas boiler

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. In either case, your system will be well-prepared to work efficiently if you take the time to maintain it. 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 TVs off and turning down thermostats. By doing all this, you not only cut down on the electricity bill, but also protect the environment. Are you paying the same attention to your central heating system? The heating system is also prone to reduced efficiency caused by corrosion, limescale formation and gunk buildup.

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.

The term ‘water treatment’ is one that is used to describe various methods of taking care of your system. A wide assortment of water treatment products is easily available like sludge remover, scale reducer, anti-freeze, magnetic scale fighter, noise reducer, electronic scale inhibitor, and the like.

Your location in the UK caninfluence the extent of your water’s hardness or softness. If you spot limescale formation inside your kettle or bath taps, there is probably hard water running in your taps. Any accumulation of limescale will make your system run less economically and therefore increase your heating bill. Your fuel bills can increase by 40% even with small deposits of limescale in your cylinder. When calcium carbonate precipitates out of the hard water, it forms limescale inside the boiler. 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 faltering seek advice.

Many water treatments produce the desired effect by changing how water molecules and the particles inside act through modifications of their structure. Some will change one structure for another, others remove the offending structure and another will stop them from being able to make a solid leaving them in suspension.

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.

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. You must get your gas connections done by a person registered with CORGI as the law requires this.

Always plan before getting the new system installed; for instance, you should know what water treatment method should be used. Before using a water treatment remedy on your present system, ensure that the entire heating system is completely flushed out.

Products added to the mains supply can soften hard water and improve the quality of water for domestic use, but they do not prevent or remedy deterioration of the central heating system. They do not alter the efficiency of your system, they only allow soaps and detergents to produce more lather when washing clothes.

The three main things that you need to prevent are corrosion, limescale and biological growth.

Corrosion will begin as soon as the tank is filled with water. Corrosion produces gunk and this prevents free circulation, this can eventually lead to formation of cold spots on radiators. Pinholes can develop in the radiators which can make the boiler noisy when heating up.

In hard water areas the calcium and magnesium in the water causes limescale. The high temperature of the water causes these elements to become hard and crusty, leaving deposits behind that clog pipes etc. 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. They gets into the heating system through open tanks. After entering into the system, they starts breeding and produce slime and sludge. This gunk stagnates in the plumbing and slows down the flow of hot water.

You can find a lot of information and advice on how to deal with these problems on the internet and in this site. Please spare some time and go through this or read the other informative articles in this site. It is recommended that you begin with the manufacturers of the various systems. Some well known manufacturers and their popular products are listed in this site, such as Sentinel or Fernox. Blogs also offer ample source of free help and information or you can contact the companies with any questions.

All the best with your treatment and let’s hope you can get your central heating systems working as expeditiously as possible to save you some cash.

Posted in Safety