Can you service your central heating with softer water supply
Can you service your central heating with softer water supply
There are several products that serve as auxiliary items for your central heating system so that it operates normally, and then there are those that work independently to give you the service you want. In either case, your system will be well-prepared to work efficiently if you take the time to maintain it. 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 energy saving tips are not only good for the environment, but also great for keeping your costs down at times of high energy costs. So how to make your central heating system run efficiently and reduce carbon dioxide? Your gas central heating’s efficacy decreases when limescale deposits and sludge accumulate in it.
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 refers to several aspects of taking care of your central heating 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.
You can either get hard or soft water in UK, depending on the area you live in. If you find a build up of limescale in your kettle and on your shower head you probable live in a hard water area. Limescale deposits inside boiler parts, pipework and radiators increases energy consumption and can lead to banging and bumping in the pipework. Your fuel bills can increase by 40% even with small deposits of limescale in your cylinder. These are basically calcium deposits solidifying from the water. Soft water which contains less calcium salts is less prone to this scale formation, however it is advisable to test the water and take precautions.
A majority of water treatment methods alter the molecular structure of water and the associated particles, and thereby changes the way water behaves. Some methods change one structure into another; a few others, remove the interfering structure; and the remaining, prevent the formation of limescale.
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.
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. The service technician fitting your gas connections should possess CORGI certification, this is now called Gas Safe and is a legal requirement.
If you plan ahead of time while having a new system assembled, you will be able to identify the water treatments you need and have some of them installed with your system. 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 will help make detergents and soaps lather more readily but do not help in the fight to get your heating system working efficiently.
With regards to heating systems, you have to prevent three important things viz,limescale, corrosion and biological growth.
Right from the time the system is installed and commissioned, internal conditions can cause corrosion to set in. Your radiators can suffer from cold spots caused by restricted circulation as a result of gunk created in the system by corrosion. Pinholes can also appear in the radiator and if the problem is not sorted out in good time your boiler could start to make noises.
Limescale results from the presence of calcium and magnesium in water, hard water regions have these elements more than the rest of the country. Heat causes these minerals to precipitate and gradually encrust the inner lining of pipes, leading to blockage. Again, the symptom of this can be a heating system that makes noise.
Biological growth in the system is another one to avoid. This is usually introduced into the system through open tanks. Once in the system it breeds producing slime and gunk. This can also grow and cause blockages in the pipework thereby reducing the efficiency of the whole system.
Various forums and websites provide useful information on water treatment. These resources cover product details as well as user feedback. 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. Forums and Blogs are another good source of free advice and wholesome information; you can also use these to directly get in touch with the suppliers.
All the best with your water treatment, let energy conserving central heating and hot water with lower home bills rule.
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