Power flushing

What are the benefits of a Power Flush?

• Reduced fuel bill (up to 25%)
• Improved central heating efficiency
• Removes magnetite sludge
• Cleans the whole system, including under floor pipe work
• Increases pump life
• Quicker heat up times
• Reduces boiler noise
• Stops hydrogen gases building up which then cause radiator corrosion

Does my central heating system need a Power Flush?

If your central heating system has any of the following symptoms, it probably needs a POWER FLUSH.

• Radiator water is dirty
• System is slow to heat up
• Radiators need frequent bleeding
• Boiler failure or lockout
• Boiler noise
• Pump failure
• Pump noise
• Some radiators are partially or completely cold
• Blocked radiators
• Pinhole leaks from radiators

These problems are a result of internal corrosion scale and sludge forming within your central heating system. Power Flushing is the only way to give your system a new lease of life and is by for the cheapest option in the long run.

How to tell if a power flush of your central heating system is recommended?

Unless it has sufficient corrosion inhibitor, from the day your heating system is installed it starts to deteriorate. The steel and iron components will start to rust. This leads to the formation of magnetite and a build up of sludge, which is evident by the water in the system becoming black. As the build up of sludge increases it can block waterways and seriously impair upon the efficiency of your heating system, leading to higher energy bills and ultimately failure of pump, radiator valves or boiler.

If you have radiators, which have cold spots at the bottom, you probably have a build up of sludge and flakes of rust blocking the waterways within the radiator. If your radiators have cold spots at the top it may just be due to air in the system or it could be caused by hydrogen gas, which forms due to a chemical reaction, which is a part of the corrosion process. On top of this if you live in a hard water area and your system has not been regularly treated it may well also have a build up of lime scale, which only serves to exacerbate the problem.

The following are all symptoms of corrosion:

• Black water in the system.
• Radiators requiring frequent bleeding.
• Radiators partially or fully cold.
• System very slow to warm up.
• Noisy boiler
• Central heating pump failure.

Regardless of these symptoms systems 10 years or more old will have a build up of corrosion. If you recognize any of these symptoms then your heating system could almost certainly benefit from power flushing.

How does power flushing work?

Basically it’s the application of specially formulated cleansing chemicals at high velocity but low pressure to facilitate a thorough removal of all the products of corrosion without causing any damage to the system due to high pressure. The operation will take several hours and once the system has been thoroughly cleansed the cleansing agent is neutralized and a corrosion inhibitor is added to the system.

Why should you power flush your central heating system?

If you are upgrading your system with a new high efficiency-condensing boiler then power flushing is essential if you want to realize the published energy efficiency levels of 90% - 94%. Your new boiler cannot be expected to fulfill its potential if your heating system is full of sludge and scale. Modern boilers have much smaller waterways and are therefore far more prone to clogging than their predecessors. Several boiler manufacturers insist that the system is thoroughly flushed as a requirement of their warranty. You will save money on the running costs of your heating system by anything up to 25%.