Water Quality is Everything!
Traditionally in the UK we use chemical corrosion inhibitors in an attempt to reduce corrosion within our central heating systems. The main issue with this approach is that it is difficult to dose a system correctly when the volume of water within that system is not known. As a result, most systems get 1 bottle and larger systems might get 2 bottles! As the years go by, the systems get partially drained, refilled, they might get more chemicals of one type or another, or they might not! In order for these chemical additives to work as intended, they should not be mixed and should be closely monitored to ensure that they remain present in the system at the correct concentration. Unfortunately, this simply does not happen.
Underdosing of corrosion inhibitors may lead to localised corrosion and pitting of metals within your system. Overdosing may affect rubber and plastic components within your boiler and/or heating system, leading to leaks and the premature failure of components such as diverter valves and expansion vessels. Not surprisingly, the majority of boiler breakdowns in the UK are as a direct result of poor central heating water quality.
We are now filling the systems of our boiler installations to meet the stringent standards of the German VDI 2035 directive. To achieve perfect results, this involves the use of a mixed bed resin filling unit through which salts and minerals are removed from your fill water. This process reduces the electrical conductivity of the water to the point where galvanic corrosion is incredibly unlikely to occur, even in the presence of oxygen. We are then able to easily and accurately monitor the quality of your system water during your annual boiler service to ensure that the electrical conductivity, pH, total hardness and iron content remain within certain parameters.
No more guessing. No more unknown, toxic, chemical soup! Just perfectly clean, non corrosive water to ensure the long life of your new boiler!
Proper Boiler Servicing!
The sad reality of gas boiler servicing today is that more often than not it simply doesn't get done very thoroughly! I believe that this is due, in part, to the larger national companies leading the way in performing 'safety checks' rather than services...they do this as it's quick, cheap (for them) and they believe that most customer's won't know the difference anyway.
We believe in correct and thorough proactive maintenance. We service all gas boilers according to the manufacturers instructions. Although not all boilers require a 'full strip down service' every year, you can rest assured that as and when they do, that is what you will get.
We carry a large van stock of common service items such as seals, gaskets and electrodes so that we are prepared to strip appliances down and rebuild them correctly and safely when required.
If you would like to know what will be involved in the servicing of your particular appliance then please contact us with the make, model and approximate age and we will be happy to help!
Maximise Efficiency!
Even if you already have an A rated condensing boiler, the chances are that it is not running anywhere near as efficiently as it should be. Why? Because of your central heating controls and/or your system design.
In a nut shell a condensing boiler will only condense when the return temperature back to the boiler, from your heating system, is below 54 degrees C. The graph to the left illustrates the sudden leap in efficiency that we see as the return temperature is lowered below 54 degrees C.
Traditionally in the UK we fit on/off controls and this practice largely continues today, even in new build homes! On/off controls are basically where your room thermostat and/or programmer switches your heating either on or off as required. The flow temperature to your radiators (and therefore also the return temperature) is fixed and dictated by the temperature that has been set at the boiler control panel. This makes no sense as when it is say 12C outside, you will not require the same flow temperature to heat your home as when it is say -2C outside. As a result, you end up wasting money by running your boiler at a much higher temperature than is necessary for most of the heating season.
The solution to this is to use modulating controls. These controls communicate intelligently with your boiler, automatically reducing or increasing the flow temperature according to either the current internal or external temperature at your property. This means that your boiler will always run at the most efficient flow and return temperatures possible. We supply and install both weather compensated or load compensated controls and we fit these as standard on all of our boiler installations. Believe it or not these types of controls have been widely available for decades and yet they are still largely not used in the UK!!!
Modulating controls are an easy win when it comes to efficiency gains for modern combination boilers. Things get a little bit more complicated if you have a separate stored hot water cylinder but it can and should still be done! I will cover priority domestic hot water (PDHW) in my next blog.
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