Gas Boilers Information

Treating your regions water supply to assist your central heating boiler

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. The point being that if you look after your system it will look after you. 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 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 looks after your system in more than one way. Many types of water treatment products such as scale reducers and inhibitors, magnetic and electronic anti-lime mechanisms, sludge destroyers, noise reducers and anti-freeze can be used for water treatment.

Your location in the UK caninfluence the extent of your water’s hardness or softness. Hard water exposes you to limescale — your kettle, shower head and taps being the most probable areas where you first notice limescale masses. Any collection of limescale will make your system run less economically and therefore increase your heating bill. A thin layer of limescale can increase your fuel bills by 40 percent. When calcium carbonate precipitates out of the hard water, it forms limescale inside the boiler. Soft water area residents should not worry too much, but it doesn’t hurt to ask for help if you are not so sure.

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. 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.

Remember that when two different metals are connected (for example- aluminium and brass), an anode and cathode polarity is created thus starting the process of corrosion; this is something that a competent technician should watch out for when installing your system. You must get your gas connections done by a person registered with CORGI as the law requires this.

Don’t rush in to making a decision, always carefully consider what type of water treatment you need with your particular system. 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. They will not have any effect on how efficiently your system works, but they will make detergents and soaps lather up more easily.

Corrosion, limescale and biological growth are the three prominent things you need to stop.

Corrosion can begin immediately after the water starts to fill up the system from the main source after installation. Corrosion causes sludge in the system which can restrict the circulation causing cold spots on your radiators. Gradual pitting can perforate the metal piping, causing the boiler or radiators to rattle.

Limescale results from the presence of calcium and magnesium in water, hard water regions have these elements more than the rest of the country. Once the water is heated it leaves deposits of these minerals which form a hard crust, building up over time and blocking pipes etc. This can be another cause of the central heating making strange noises.

Biological growth is another thing that should be avoided at all costs. The growth enters the system through open tanks in certain types of heating system. Once in the system it breeds producing slime and sludge. If the growth occurs in pipework, it can decrease the efficacy of the entire system.

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. Kick-start with the manufacturers and their web sites. Some well known manufacturers and their popular products are listed in this site, such as Sentinel or Fernox. Blogs are another great source of free advice and information or contact a supplier with any queries that you may have.

So wish you all the best for your water treatment, make sure you chose the one that is effective and at the same time trims your household bills by helping you maintain an efficient central heating system.