Lower your energy costs with softer water for your boiler
Lower your energy costs with softer water for your boiler
Nowadays a typical house is fitted with dozens of automatic appliances and systems to provide homeowners with a convenient life. 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 TVs off and turning down thermostats. All the above enlisted ways effectively save energy, protect the environment and bring down the electricity bill. But what about getting your central heating system to work more efficiently? The build up of gunk 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. gunk extractors, limescale inhibitors, electronic and magnetic lime reducers, anti-freeze compounds and noise reducing agents are some of the extensive water treatment products sold in the market today.
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. Central Heating bills grow as a result of efficiency reduction caused by limescale. Your fuel bills can increase by forty percent even with small deposits of limescale in your cylinder. Limescale deposits are simply composed of calcium. Soft water area residents should not worry too much, but it doesn’t hurt to ask for help if you are not so sure.
Many water treatments produce the desired effect by changing how water molecules and the particles inside act through modifications of their structure. It can do this in different ways for example, by changing one structure for another, by taking away a structure or by inhibiting the structure from becoming solid.
Chemical test kits are available that allow you to check the probability and speed of corrosion by gauging the levels of ph, chloride, iron and copper.
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. By law, only CORGI registered tradespeople can deal with gas connections, this scheme is now known as Gas Safe.
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.
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 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.
You basically need to prevent your system from three things, limescale deposits, biological growth and corrosion.
Corrosion will begin as soon as the tank is filled with water. The residue from corrosive action causes clogging of the water flow and reduces uniform heat transfer through the radiators. Gradual pitting can perforate the metal piping, causing the boiler or radiators to rattle.
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. This again can manifest itself with a noisy heating system.
Biological growth in the system is another one to avoid. This is usually introduced into the system through open tanks. The biological growth advances rapidly in the form of a slimy lining. This material can really make your system under perform by clogging up the pipework.
You can learn more about these problems on the internet. Take a look at this for a few minutes to improve your awareness. We recommend starting with the manufacturers themselves. You can see below a list of some of the most popular products and their manufacturers. You can also gain additional information and seek advice through different blogs or forums, some may be run by the manufacturers.
All the best with your water treatment, let energy conserving central heating and hot water with lower home bills rule.