Where you live can impinge upon your central heating boiler
Where you live can impinge upon your central heating boiler
Nowadays a typical house is fitted with dozens of automatic appliances and systems to provide householders with a convenient life. The point being that if you look after your system it will look after you. 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. 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.
To stop the build up of limescale and sludge in your system particularly in hard water areas, then you need to take a look at water treatment.
Water treatment is a term used to cover many different ways of looking after your system. Magnetic/electronic lime fighters, scale reducers/inhibitors, sludge reducers, noise reducers and anti-freeze are examples of the type of water treatment products that are available to you.
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. Limescale not only reduces the efficiency of your system, but also increases your heating bills. The energy cost in a boiler cylinder with limescale lining can be 40 percent more than a clean boiler leading to more expensive gas bills. Basically, limescale is just the build up of calcium deposits. If you live in a soft water region, then you need not worry about limescale that much; however, if you are unsure about the water quality, then without any hesitation seek advice.
The way that most water treatments work is by changing the molecular structure of the water’s particles which, in turn alters the way it behaves. 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.
Your system must be installed by a professional, never connect brass or copper to aluminum as this can lead to corrosion through the interaction of these metals. You must get your gas connections done by a person registered with CORGI as the law requires this.
Always plan before getting the new system installed; for instance, you should know what water treatment method should be used. 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. You will be able to make lather with detergents and soaps more easily but your heating system will still have problems with efficiency.
You basically need to prevent your system from three things, limescale deposits, biological growth and corrosion.
Right from the time the system is installed and commissioned, internal conditions can cause corrosion to set in. Corrosion causes gunk in the system which can restrict the circulation causing cold spots on your radiators. Pinholes can appear in the radiators and if untreated the boiler can start making noises.
Limescale is caused by calcium and magnesium which is present in the water hard water areas having far more of these minerals than other parts of the country. Heat causes these minerals to precipitate and gradually encrust the inner lining of pipes, leading to blockage. This can be another cause of the gas boiler making strange noises.
You should also be wary of biological growth. They gets into the heating system through open tanks. After entering into the system, they starts breeding and produce slime and gunk. In addition to the tank, they grow into the pipes and block them; thereby the efficiency of the system is further reduced.
You can learn more about these problems on the internet. Please spare some time and go through this or read the other informative articles in this web site. Lets first have a look at the manufacturers. You can find a list manufacturers and the popular items they carry in this site. 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 heating systems working as efficiently as possible to save you some hard cash.