How soft water can help reduce your heating bills.

When hard water is heated, limescale particles are released within the water.  These particles then start to build up around your hot water system.  You can see this effect in your kettle, with the build up of limescale around the heating element.  Although you can’t see into your hot water system, the same effect as the kettle, is happening all around your home.

About 20 years ago, we removed this connection from a hot water tank at one of our customers in Chelmsford.  We’ve kept it ever since as it is a great way to show potential customers how limescale builds up.  As you can see from the picture, the aperture of the pipe has been reduced from 22mm to a mere 3-4mm.  This will have reduced the flow of water from the customers taps and shower, to a trickle.

Not only does the limescale cause a reduction in water flow, but it also means that you use a lot more energy to heat your home.  It will take longer to warm up, and so, cost more to do so.  Not to mention the adverse impact on the environment.  Every 5-7mm of limescale build up, will cost, on average, 15% more to heat your home.  It only takes 18 months to get to this level of limescale build up in your system!

If you have a water softener fitted, it prevents the build up of further limescale, as well as breaking down the limescale that is already in your home.  Within 6-12 months, your hot water system could be free of limescale, returning your system to its original level of efficiency.

With energy costs ever rising, having a water softener fitted makes a big difference to your bills, and long term, it means that your heating system is less likely to need repair or replacement, saving you money, and hassle.

By Karen Ager

Wife of Ben, like her sister-in-law Lorraine, deals with the ongoing enquiries with the day to day administration for Softflow. Karen's major role is with the filters and replacement products from us. So call and ask for Karen if you need a new filter or any after sales issues.