Central Heating Water Treatment: A Great Return on Investment
The household boiler is one of the most expensive appliances in the home, costing homeowners on average £2,500 to buy and install. Despite this, many homeowners fail to undertake central heating water treatment maintenance to prevent a costly boiler breakdown.
Having the correct water treatment will improve your boiler’s efficiency and will extend its lifespan beyond the expected 12-15 years. Moreover, with water treatment you can save up to 15% on your gas bills every time a room is heated.
Why do heating systems need water treatment?
According to research by Sentinel, approximately 87% of boiler call-outs are to systems without correct water treatment. This is largely due to the fact that over time, air ingress allows corrosion, ferrous metal sludge and limescale to build up in the heating system. Without the right water treatment, this damaging debris will clog your boiler’s tiny waterways and force your boiler to work harder to heat your home. This will cause:
- Reduced system efficiency
- Higher energy bills
- Increased C02 emissions
- System component failures
- Boiler breakdowns
Don't rely on the manufacturer warranty to cover your boiler breakdown! Your boiler warranty may be invalidated if the system water is found to be dirty. This can cost you a lot of money in terms of repair and replacement. Installing an A rated boiler on a dirty central heating system will reduce its efficiency rating in just 6 days.
Does my central heating system need water treatment?
There are a number of easy-to-spot symptoms that indicate an underlying problem with your heating system.
- Radiator cold spots that require you to bleed the radiators often.
- Loud hissing or clunking noises from your radiators, boiler or heating system in general.
- Having to run the boiler for a long period of time to heat up the entire house.
If you have had a new bathroom fitted or removed a radiator, you will need to partially drain the system, replenish it with fresh mains water and re-add inhibitor to the system.
What should I do?
Don’t wait for an impending boiler breakdown. Preventative maintenance is almost always cheaper than repair, so a 360° approach to system cleaning is recommended. Follow our 3 simple steps to slash your monthly heating bills and carbon emissions.
1. Arrange a routine boiler service annually
This will help your boiler retain high efficiency and ensure its manufacturer warranty is upheld. If your heating engineer discovers that your water circulation is inefficient, they will introduce a premium cleanser to the system before carrying out an effective powerflush. A powerflush cleans the entire system and restores the central heating to tip top condition.
2. Ask your installer to add inhibitor to your central heating system
This coats the surface of the metal in your heating system and stops it from reacting with anything to form rust. Specify that you would like them to use quality water treatment products such as Sentinel and Fernox. There are many cheap imitations that are less effective and can be up to 97% water.
3. Install a system filter
These fit easily onto the pipework of your boiler and collect sludge before it has a chance to circulate through your heating system. They prevent the system becoming dirty again and reduce the need for a pricey powerflush in the future. Saving you stress and money in the long term, MagnaClean filters by Adey are proven to cut household heating bills by up to 6% per year and reduce system maintenance call outs by 37% a year.
So why not save money now? Take a look at the wide range of boiler water treatment products available at PlumbNation today.