Gas Boilers Information

You central heating boiler may want you to live someplace else

Nowadays a typical household is fitted with dozens of automatic appliances and systems to provide homeowners with a convenient life. Regardless, a central heating systems that’s given proper care will work for you smoothly. The Government and environmental agencies repeatedly tell us about the ways to conserve energy like switching off the lights and appliances when not in use, re-adjusting the temperature of the room and washing machine according to the needs, and not leaving any electrical device in the standby mode. 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 gunk and limescale starts piling up, the efficiency of the system starts dwindling increasing your energy costs.

If you live in a region where hard water is being supplied, then you should look for water treatment methods to prevent gunk and limescale from damaging your central heating system.

Water treatment looks after your system in more than one way. A wide assortment of water treatment products is easily available like sludge remover, scale reducer, anti-freeze, magnetic scale fighter, noise reducer, electronic scale inhibitor, and the like.

Living in the UK means that depending on whereabouts you are in the country, your water can range from hard to soft. If you find a build up of limescale in your kettle and on your shower head you probable live in a hard water area. These deposits decrease the cost-efficiency of your system which in turn increases your household bills. You may be surprised to hear that you bills can increase by as much as 40% with just a thin layer of limescale in your hot water cylinder. Limescale deposits are simply composed of calcium. 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 faltering seek advice.

The water treatment options work by changing water’s molecular structure, it changes the way water behaves. These products can neutralize limescale, loosen and remove hard deposits or even maintain the residual salts in suspension form to be flushed out periodically.

There are different types of chemical test kits available that can help you to ascertain the corrosion potential of water by measuring the pH, chloride, iron and copper levels.

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. By law, only CORGI registered tradespeople can deal with gas connections, this scheme is now known as Gas Safe.

If you anticipate hard water problems, you can fit out your new central heating system with a suitable water treatment attachment. If you are updating your existing system you would be looking at flushing the whole system before adding any water treatment solutions.

The mains water supply provides water to the heating systems, one can fix various other systems with the mains supply in order to deal with the problem of hard water, however these systems that soften the water work only for your household, they don’t do much about the problems associated with the central heating system. They do not alter the efficiency of your system, they only allow soaps and detergents to produce more lather when washing clothes.

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

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 sludge created in the system by corrosion. Gradual pitting can perforate the metal piping, causing the boiler or radiators to rattle.

The calcium and magnesium present in hard water is responsible for limescale deposits. The deposits thicken when the water is heated, this leads to formation of a hard crust over a period of time which eventually blocks pipes etc. This again can manifest itself with a noisy heating system.

Biological growth inside the system is another hazard that must be prevented. The growth enters the system through open tanks in certain types of heating system. After the biological matter gets into the tank it begins to breed and produces gunk and slime. In addition to the tank, they grow into the pipes and block them; thereby the efficiency of the system is further reduced.

A lot of free advice is available on the internet on how to get rid of biological growth. It would be wise to take time to go through some of this information. 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 find a lot of really useful information and tips through forums as well as speaking to suppliers directly with any specific questions that you may have.

Now you should be able to choose and install an effective heating system which is enjoyable, healthy and cost-efficient on both kinds of green!.