Are you hurting your central heating with the wrong water
Are you hurting your central heating with the wrong water
There are many optional products that are available to add to your heating system to keep it running on a regular basis, and there are others that you can install and let them do the work for you day by day. Any household system, be it a refrigerator or television set or electrical wiring, will function better and more economically if it is well serviced. 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. These environmentally conscious steps not only save the greenery on our planet, but also save the pound notes in our wallet. 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.
It usually happens in areas where hard water is present, you can go for water treatment to avoid these deposits.
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, gunk removers, noise reducers and anti-freeze are available.
You can either get hard or soft water in UK, depending on the area you live in. 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. These deposits decrease the efficiency of your system which in turn increases your household bills. The energy cost in a boiler cylinder with limescale lining can be 40 percent more than a clean boiler leading to more expensive energy bills. These are basically calcium deposits solidifying from the water. Although those living in soft water areas will not have to take as many provisions, if you are unsure you should still get professional advice.
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.
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. All gas connections must be made by a CORGI registered tradesperson.
You should decide about the water treatment well in advance, especially when you are installing a new heating system. If you are updating your existing system you would be looking at flushing the whole system before adding any water treatment solutions.
Heating systems take water from the mains water supply and there are various systems that you can attach to your mains supply to deal with hard water problems, however, it is worth noting that systems that are put in to soften water in your home are only for household use and will do nothing for your central heating system problems. These solutions can make detergent and soaps to lather effortlessly, but they will not be able to help the heating system to work efficiently.
Limescale formation, acidic corrosion and bio-chemical gunk 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. Your radiators can suffer from cold spots caused by restricted circulation as a result of gunk created in the system by corrosion. Pinholes can appear in the radiators and if untreated the boiler can start making noises.
Hard water contains magnesium and calcium and these minerals deposit as limescale in the system. When the water is heated, these minerals deposit, forming a hard crust that grows with time and blocks the pipes. Again, the symptom of this can be a heating system that makes noise.
Biological growth inside the system is another hazard that must be prevented. They gets into the heating system through open tanks. After the biological matter gets into the tank it begins to breed and produces gunk and slime. This gunk stagnates in the plumbing and slows down the flow of hot water.
Various forums and websites provide useful information on water treatment. Please spare some time and go through this or read the other informative articles in this web site. I would start with the manufacturers themselves. Browse through some of the reputed water treatment companies and their acclaimed products on this page. Blogs also offer ample source of free help and information or you can contact the companies with any questions.
Good luck with your water treatment heres to energy efficient central heating and hot water with lower household bills of course.