How your topical water system can contract your gas economy and injure your central heating
How your topical water system can contract your gas economy and injure your central heating
Nowadays a typical house is fitted with dozens of automatic appliances and systems to provide homeowners with a convenient life. Irregardless of which you choose, you should take proper care of your central heating system, only then can it perform efficiently. It is now well known, thanks to advice given by governments and environmental organisations, that we should save energy wherever possible by turning off lights, washing clothes at lower temperatures, switching TVs off and turning down thermostats. All these habits will result in lower household bills in addition to protecting the environment through energy saving. But what about getting your gas central heating system to work more efficiently? The build up of gunk and limescale deposits in your central heating system will cause it to run less efficiently.
To stop the build up of limescale and gunk in your system particularly in hard water areas, then you need to take a look at water treatment.
The term ‘water treatment’ is one that is used to describe various methods of taking care of your system. Various products of water treatment are available like electronic line and magnetic filters, noise reducers, gunk removers, anti-freeze and scale reducers and inhibitors.
Living in the UK means that depending on whereabouts you are in the country, your water can range from hard to soft. 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. Any accumulation of limescale will make your system run less economically and therefore increase your heating bill. Just a small, thin layer of scale in your hot water cylinder can increase your fuel bills by as much as forty percent. Limescale is nothing, but calcium deposits in your central heating system. These problems are not seen in areas that get soft water, however in case of any doubt one should always seek advice.
Most water treatments act by altering the molecular structure of the water and the particles therein and changing the way it behaves. Water treatment works in different ways, it can change the structure or prevent the formation of solid or remove the offending particle altogether.
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. All gas connections must be made by a CORGI registered tradesperson.
You should decide about the water treatment well in advance, especially when you are installing a new heating system. If you are updating your existing system you would be looking at flushing the whole system before adding any water treatment solutions.
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 will help make detergents and soaps lather more readily but do not help in the fight to get your heating system working efficiently.
You basically need to prevent your system from three things, limescale deposits, biological growth and corrosion.
Corrosion can start from the moment the system is set up and filled with water from the mains supply. Corrosion causes gunk in the system which can restrict the circulation causing cold spots on your 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.
Limescale results from the presence of calcium and magnesium in water, hard water regions have these elements more than the rest of the country. Deposits of these minerals leave hard crusts in the system when the water is heated. Again, the symptom of this can be a heating system that makes noise.
Biological growth inside the system is another hazard that must be prevented. 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.
A lot of free advice is available on the internet on how to get rid of biological growth. Take some time to look through this. It is recommended that you begin with the producers of the various systems. You can find a list manufacturers and the popular items they carry in this site. 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.
Good luck with your water treatment heres to energy cost-efficient heating and hot water with lower household bills of course.