What can you place in your water supply to help your central heating
What can you place in your water supply to help your central heating
There are countless products available in the market that you can add to your central heating system to ensure that it runs properly, and there are several other products that can do work for you even in standalone mode. Regardless, a gas central heating systems that’s given proper care will work for you smoothly. You must have heard those environmental and government agents asking us to switch off our Television, 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. What is the best way to get your central heating system to work more economically? With the accumulation of the likes of limescale and gunk in your system will make it less efficient.
You should be thinking about water treatment to stop this accumulation of gunk and limescale, especially if you live in a hard water area.
The term water treatment encompasses many different remedies for the protection of your system. sludge 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.
Your location in the UK caninfluence the extent of your water’s hardness or softness. 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 not only reduces the efficiency of your system, but also increases your heating bills. Your fuel bills can increase by forty percent even with small deposits of limescale in your cylinder. Limescale is simply calcium deposits in your system. Soft water area residents should not worry too much, but it doesn’t hurt to ask for help if you are not so sure.
Most water treatments act by altering the molecular structure of the water and the particles therein and changing the way it behaves. Some methods change one structure into another; a few others, remove the interfering structure; and the remaining, prevent the formation of limescale.
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.
First, you must ensure that your system has been installed by a competent person just knowing that you must never directly connect aluminium to copper or brass because simply by connecting different metals can start a reaction which causes corrosion. Every gas connection should be carried out by a CORGI, Gas Safe, registered professional.
Don’t rush in to making a decision, always carefully consider what type of water treatment you need with your particular system. If you are revamping the old system, you should rinse out the whole system before adding the water treatment method.
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. 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 produces sludge and this prevents free circulation, this can eventually lead to formation of cold spots on radiators. 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.
The calcium and magnesium present in hard water is responsible for limescale deposits. 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 also make the system noisy and inefficient, you will be paying for energy that does not heat your home.
Biological growth in the system is another one to avoid. This is usually introduced into the system through open tanks. After the biological matter gets into the tank it begins to breed and produces gunk and slime. It can also cover the inside of the pipework resulting in clogs and negatively affecting the operation of the whole system.
You can find a lot of information and advice on how to deal with these problems on the internet and in this site. It would be wise to take time to go through some of this information. Kick-start with the manufacturers and their web sites. Below is a list of manufacturers and some of the popular products they have available. Besides inquiring for information with company sources, you should also read opinions on specialised blogs.
In order to ensure that your central heating system works efficiently and your household bills are also decreased, find out the best water treatment method and apply the recommended treatments every year.
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