How your topical water system can reduce your energy efficiency and damage your gas boiler

There are innumerable products available in the market that you can add to your central heating system to ensure that it runs properly, and there are several other products that can do work for you even in standalone mode. Regardless, a central heating systems that’s given proper care will work for you smoothly. 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. These energy saving tips are not only good for the environment, but also great for keeping your costs down at times of high energy prices. 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 sludge accumulate in it.

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.

Water treatment refers to several aspects of taking care of your central heating system. A wide range of water treatment products including scale reducers and inhibitors, magnetic and electronic lime fighters, sludge removers, noise reducers and anti-freeze are available.

Your location in the UK caninfluence the extent of your water’s hardness or softness. 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. Your fuel bills can increase by forty percent even with small deposits of limescale in your cylinder. Limescale is simply calcium deposits in your system. These problems are not seen in areas that get soft water, however in case of any doubt one should always seek advice.

The water treatment options work by changing water’s molecular structure, it changes the way water 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.

If you want to determine the corrosion rate inside your heating system, you can do so by using these chemical kits which measure the chloride, copper and iron levels and measure the pH.

First, you must ensure that your system has been installed by a competent person just knowing that you must never directly connect aluminium to copper or brass because simply by connecting different metals can start a reaction which causes corrosion. The gas connections should be made only by a trades person, who is Gas Safe registered (with CORGI).

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. If you are upgrading your current system, you must cleanse your whole system before any water treatment chemicals are added.

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. They will not have any effect on how efficiently your system works, but they will make detergents and soaps lather up more easily.

You basically need to prevent your system from three things, limescale deposits, biological growth and corrosion.

Corrosion can start from the moment the system is set up and filled with water from the mains supply. Corrosion causes sludge 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.

Hard water contains magnesium and calcium and these minerals deposit as limescale in the system. Deposits of these minerals leave hard crusts in the system when the water is heated. Again, the symptom of this can be a heating system that makes noise.

Biological growth is another thing that should be avoided at all costs. This problem occurs when tanks are open as they are in certain types of central heating system. It establishes itself in the system and then produces gunk and slime. This can also grow and cause blockages in the pipework thereby reducing the efficiency of the whole system.

A lot of free advice is available on the internet on how to get rid of biological growth. Please spare some time and go through this or read the other informative articles in this site. Kick-start with the manufacturers and their web sites. Browse through some of the reputed water treatment companies and their acclaimed products on this page. You can also find a lot of really useful information and tips through forums as well as speaking to suppliers directly with any specific questions that you may have.

All the best with your water treatment, let energy conserving central heating and hot water with lower household bills rule.

Posted in Safety