Where you are can touch upon your central heating system
Where you are can touch upon your central heating system
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. You must have heard those environmental and government agents asking us to switch off our TV, lights etc when not in use, the room thermostats and washing machine temperatures should also be turned down to cut energy use and carbon dioxide production. All these habits will result in lower household bills in addition to protecting the environment through energy saving. 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.
To prevent a mass of sludge and limescale from building up in your system, especially where the water is hard, you must try water treatment.
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, sludge removers, noise reducers and anti-freeze are available.
Your location in the UK caninfluence the extent of your water’s hardness or softness. Limescale deposits are common in areas that get hard water, and these deposits are first seen on kettles, taps and shower heads. Limescale reduces efficiency and adds to heating bills. You may be surprised to hear that you bills can increase by as much as 40% with just a thin layer of limescale in your hot water cylinder. These are basically calcium deposits solidifying from the water. These problems are not seen in areas that get soft water, however in case of any doubt one should always seek advice.
Many water treatments produce the desired effect by changing how water molecules and the particles inside act through modifications of their structure. One way of modification is to convert a structure completely to another, another is to take out the mischievous component, and yet another way is to prevent the structure from becoming solid, thus leaving its normal process unrealized.
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.
The first thing that you need to do is to determine whether your system has been installed by a competent person or not; if different metals like aluminum and copper or brass are connected together, corrosion will set in immediately. The gas connections should be made only by a trades person, who is Gas Safe registered (with CORGI).
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.
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.
Right from the time the system is installed and commissioned, internal conditions can cause corrosion to set in. The residue from corrosive action causes clogging of the water flow and reduces uniform heat transfer through the radiators. 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 has a higher concentration of calcium and magnesium salts which cause limescale deposits within the system. The high temperature of the water causes these elements to become hard and crusty, leaving deposits behind that clog pipes etc. Limescale can again make the gas central heating system noisy.
Biological growth inside the system is another hazard that must be prevented. This problem occurs when tanks are open as they are in certain types of central heating system. The biological growth advances rapidly in the form of a slimy lining. It can also cover the inside of the pipework resulting in clogs and negatively affecting the operation of the whole system.
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 website. Producers of water treatment products provide detailed data and user references on their websites. Browse through some of the reputed water treatment companies and their acclaimed products on this page. Besides inquiring for information with company sources, you should also read opinions on specialised blogs.
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 hard cash.