How your localised water supply can contract your energy efficiency and hurt your heating boiler
How your localised water supply can contract your energy efficiency and hurt your heating boiler
You can find a number of products that can be added to your heating system to help it run smoother as well as some products that can take care of themselves. The point being that if you look after your system it will look after you. 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. All these habits will result in lower household bills in addition to protecting the environment through energy saving. 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.
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 encompasses many different remedies for the protection of your system. A wide assortment of water treatment products is easily available like gunk remover, scale reducer, anti-freeze, magnetic scale fighter, noise reducer, electronic scale inhibitor, and the like.
The UK has water types ranging from hard to soft based on the region where you live. 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 reduces efficiency and adds to heating bills. Your fuel bills can increase by 40% even with small deposits of limescale in your cylinder. Limescale is simply calcium deposits in your system. 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.
Water treatment products act by modifying the water borne salts and preventing harmful reactions. 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.
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. All gas connections must be made by a CORGI registered tradesperson.
Always plan before getting the new system installed; for instance, you should know what water treatment method should be used. 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. 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.
Limescale formation, acidic corrosion and bio-chemical sludge are the main causes of heating system damage.
Corrosion can start from the moment the system is set up and filled with water from the mains supply. Corrosion causes gunk in the system which can restrict the circulation causing cold spots on your radiators. It can cause pinholes in the radiators and if left can cause the boiler to become noisy.
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. 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. The biological growth advances rapidly in the form of a slimy lining. This gunk stagnates in the plumbing and slows down the flow of hot water.
A lot of free advice is available on the internet on how to get rid of biological growth. Take some time to look through this. We recommend starting with the manufacturers themselves. 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.
In order to ensure that your central heating system works efficiently and your household bills are also decreased, find out the best water treatment method and apply the recommended treatments every year.