You gas boiler may want you to live somewhere else
You gas boiler may want you to live somewhere else
Nowadays a typical household is fitted with dozens of automatic appliances and systems to provide householders with a convenient life. Irregardless of which you choose, you should take proper care of your heating system, only then can it perform efficiently. 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. These environmentally conscious steps not only save the greenery on our planet, but also save the pound notes in our wallet. But, how will you make sure that your central heating system works efficiently? As the layers of sludge and limescale starts piling up, the efficiency of the system starts dwindling increasing your energy costs.
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.
Water treatment looks after your system in more than one way. Various products of water treatment are available like electronic line and magnetic filters, noise reducers, sludge removers, anti-freeze and scale reducers and inhibitors.
If you are living in UK, you should first ascertain the hardness of the water you are getting. 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 reduces efficiency and adds to heating bills. Just a small, thin layer of scale in your hot water cylinder can increase your fuel bills by as much as 40%. When calcium carbonate precipitates out of the hard water, it forms limescale inside the boiler. Those who live in soft water areas need not take quite so many precautions but it is always wise to seek advice if you are unsure.
Water treatment products act by modifying the water borne salts and preventing harmful reactions. 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.
You can find out the ph and chloride, iron and copper levels with chemical test kits, which will allow you to measure the likely corrosion rate in your system.
It is very important to make sure that your system is put in by someone who knows what they’re doing as they will be aware of things like not connecting aluminium to copper or brass, which can cause corrosion. 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. If you are updating your existing system you would be looking at flushing the whole system before adding any water treatment solutions.
The central heating system will take water from the main pipeline, and in this line, even if a functional water treatment method is already there to tackle the problem of hard water this method will be of no use for your 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. 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.
In hard water areas the calcium and magnesium in the water causes limescale. When the water is heated, these minerals deposit, forming a hard crust that grows with time and blocks the pipes. This again can manifest itself with a noisy heating system.
You should also be wary of biological growth. This problem occurs when tanks are open as they are in certain types of central heating system. After entering into the system, they starts breeding and produce slime and sludge. If the growth occurs in pipework, it can decrease the efficacy of the entire system.
There is a lot of free advice on the internet. These resources cover product details as well as user feedback. Producers of water treatment products provide detailed data and user references on their websites. You can find a list manufacturers and the popular items they carry in this site. Blogs are another great source of free advice and information or contact a supplier with any queries that you may have.
Now you should be able to choose and install an effective central heating system which is enjoyable, healthy and cost-efficient on both kinds of green!.