Lower your energy costs with softer water for your central heating
Lower your energy costs with softer water for your central heating
Nowadays a typical home is fitted with dozens of automatic appliances and systems to provide homeowners with a convenient life. Either way, a well looked after central heating system will run more efficiently for you. 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. All these habits will result in lower household bills in addition to protecting the environment through energy saving. What is the best way to get your central heating system to work more economically? With the accumulation of the likes of limescale and sludge in your system will make it less efficient.
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. Various products of water treatment are available like electronic line and magnetic filters, noise reducers, sludge removers, anti-freeze and scale reducers and inhibitors.
You can either get hard or soft water in UK, depending on the area you live in. 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. 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. Although those living in soft water areas will not have to take as many provisions, if you are unsure you should still get professional advice.
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. These products can neutralize limescale, loosen and remove hard deposits or even maintain the residual salts in suspension form to be flushed out periodically.
The outlook for possible corrosion can be determined by monitoring pH and salt levels as well as ionic conditions, using standard chemical testing kits.
To begin with, you should make certain that your system has been assembled by a qualified individual, for example it’s important to have the simple knowledge that connecting aluminum and copper or brass triggers a corrosive reaction because that’s what happens when different metals are joined. The service technician fitting your gas connections should possess CORGI certification, this is now called Gas Safe and is a legal requirement.
It is a good idea to plan ahead, if you are having a new system installed, think which water treatment you will require as some can be fitted to your system. It would be a good idea to completely flush your whole system before adding any water treatments.
Products added to the mains supply can soften hard water and improve the quality of water for domestic use, but they do not prevent or remedy deterioration of 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.
With regards to heating systems, you have to prevent three important things viz,limescale, corrosion and biological growth.
Corrosion will begin as soon as the tank is filled with water. Corrosion produces gunk and this prevents free circulation, this can eventually lead to formation of cold spots on radiators. Pinholes can develop in the radiators which can make the boiler noisy when heating up.
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 uneconomical, you will be paying for gas that does not heat your house.
Fungal and bacterial growth is another menace to vented heating systems. This problem occurs when tanks are open as they are in certain types of central heating system. After managing to enter the system, it spreads by creating 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. Take out time to go through a few pages of free advice. We recommend starting with the manufacturers themselves. Below is a list of manufacturers and some of the popular products they have available. Blogs also offer ample source of free help and information or you can contact the companies with any questions.
Good luck with your water treatment heres to energy cost-efficient heating and hot water with lower household bills of course.