Essex Heating Blog
Chlorination of Domestic Water Systems.
July 26, 2010 by carl
Essex Heating Services comes across a lot of situations during its day to day activities where FE and Cold Water Storage tanks have become contaminated due to non-compliance with BY-LAW 30.
BYLAW 30
The tank must have a cover and various screen/filters to prevent the ingress of dirt/dust/insects and various small animals and birds. The Water inlet must be at the opposite side of the tank from the Water Outlet to avoid water stagnation. Specifications apply to the diameter of the various pipes and their height in relation to the bottom and top of the tank and in relation to each other. The main thrust of BYLAW 30 is to make sure that any domestic stored water remains free of contaminants but especially potable water that is water that is used for drinking.
The water storage tanks that we have come across can be up to 10cm deep in sludge and sediment, this having accumulated over time. The surface of the water can have a thin film of biomass material that can feed various bacterial organisms such as Legionnaires disease. Most householders don’t even realize that they are serious risk.
The most effective solution is to have your water storage tanks inspected to see if there is any build up of sediment or sludge and that they comply with BYLAW 30 and then to have the tanks cleaned and disinfected with Chlorine. If the Tanks do not comply it really is in your best interest to have them fitted with a BYLAW 30 Kit. Where this is not possible the Tank will need to be replaced with one that does.
It should be noted that Hot and Cold Systems should be cleaned and chlorinated at least annually.
Chlorination Procedure
We have found that one of the most effective products on the market is “STEROX”, by Fernox. There are other products on the market but we have found that this product is cost effective for the customer and easy and straight forward to check after the process that the chlorine has been reduced to a safe level.
- Advise the householder/occupant that the water should not be used or consumed during the chlorination process. Let them know that you will give them the all clear.
- Make sure that the pipework has sufficient drain off points to completely drain the system – take note of any low points or dead legs.
- If necessary fit additional drain off point and Gate/Lever Valves.
- Depending if you are treating both the Hot Water and Cold Water Systems, you will need to lock off the cold water supply and turn off the boiler.
- Completely drain the Cold and Hot Water systems – including the Hot Water Cylinder, lavatory cisterns etc.
- Clean the water storage tanks – removing all sediment, sludge and debris
- Isolate the feeds to the Cold Water Tank and fill with cold water and add 2 Sterox Tablets for every 225lts (50 gallons) of water. This will give more that the required dosage of 50mg/L. Make sure that the tablets have fully dissolved.
- Turn off the supply to the Cold Water Tank and open the Gate/Lever Valves to the system. Make sure that you have locked off all the drain off points first. Do not allow the Cold Tank to fully empty. If it gets too low – close the Gate/Lever Valve to the system, top the water up and add some more chlorination tablets as necessary. Let the tablet’s dissolve and re-open the Gate/Lever Valve to the system.
- The whole system should now be chlorinated to the required dosage – you can check this at a number of outlets with the test kit provided.
- Make sure that the Cold Water Tank is just above its normal level and add one more tablet. The system must then stand for one hour. You will need to check the level of chlorination during this period to make sure that it stays in excess of 50mg/L. If it drops the system should be re-chlorinated.
- You can now flush the system. This is best done by completely draining the system and then flushing through a couple of times. Check the level of chlorination with the kit provided. It should be no higher than the incoming water mains.
- Keep a record of the date of chlorination and initial and final chlorine concentration levels and the time. Advise the householder/occupants that it is safe to use the water.
Essex Heating Services can carry out this work for you and supply all the chemicals necessary to do an effective job. In the fist instance give us a call to arrange a time to come round and do an inspection. This can be done at the same time that you have your boiler serviced.
Telephone; – 01376 516513
E-mail: – essexheatingservices@googlemail.com
www.essexheatingservices.co.uk
Services that we can Provide
July 26, 2010 by carl
See below a list of all the services that Essex Heating Services can assist you with: -
Boiler not working Essex
Hot water not working Essex
No Heating Essex
No Gas Essex
No Hot water Essex
Radiators install Essex
Radiators don’t heat up Essex
Radiators won’t heat up Essex
My boiler doesn’t work Essex
Boiler Break down Essex
Central heating breakdown Essex
Boiler service Essex
Commercial Gas Service Essex
Gas service Essex
Gas boiler repairs Essex
Gas cooker installation Essex
Gas cooker install Essex
Gas hob installation Essex
Gas Hob install Essex
Fit Cooker Essex
Fit gas hob Essex
Repairs to gas fires Essex
Gas oven installation Essex
Gas Central Heating Essex
Boiler Replacement Essex
LPG Essex
LPG Caravan Essex
Gas Safety Checks Essex
Commercial Oven Repair Essex
Give Essex Heating Services a call now on 01376 516513
E-mail: – essexheatingservices@googlemail.com
The Power of a MagnaClean
December 10, 2009 by carl
We were contacted recently by a customer who was having problems with his Central Heating System.
“The Radiators upstairs are roasting and the ones downstairs are freezing cold, the one in the Hall Way has never worked”!
After visiting the customer we found out that the system had not been serviced in over 8 years. The Water Circulator (commonly called the Pump) was very noisy and working under stress at it’s highest setting. The three port valve – used to switch the hot water in the primary circuit between the Central Heating or Hot Water circuit or both had also seized.
It was agreed to power flush the system and use a sludge remover. To dose the system with an inhibitor to reduce oxidization, replace the water circulator and three port valve and fit a MagnClean to protect the system and keep it working at optimum efficiency.
What is a MagnaClean?
A MagnaClean is a proven, high efficiency, full flow, magnetic filter designed by a Heating Engineer, that will remove virtually 100% of suspended black iron oxide. This is really important, because the natural process of black iron oxide build up soon impairs performance and eventually clogs the boiler and radiators. These particles bond to all of the system components causing premature failure and contaminate the boiler heat exchanger and pipework. Needless to say the boiler and circulator have to work harder and harder – this means you are paying for heat that is going no where. In other words money is flying out of the window!
At Essex Heating Services we have made it a practice to fit a MagnaClean on all new installations. We recommend that if you haven’t got one fitted to your system, that you consider having one fitted when you have your boiler serviced.
Can be maintained by the Customer
Its very simple for the customer to clean the MagnaClean on a regular basis see below: -
- Lock off the two valves with the small spanner provided
- Remove the top of the canister with the spanner provided
- Remove the Magnet from the plastic collar
- Wash the iron oxide under the tap
- Insert the Magnet back into the plastic collar
- Insert the unit back into the canister
- Screw the lid back on
- Open the two valves
Bleed the canister using a radiator key form the top of the canister
Have a look at the pictures to give you an idea.
Even after a 4 hour power flush the MagnaClean will still be able to pull particles out of the system. It really is an amazing piece of kit.
Needless to say the customer now has a Central Heating System that functions as it was designed to, giving heat throughout the house including the the Hall Radiator.
If you would like to have a MagnaClean fitted to your Central Heating System give us a call at : -
Essex Heating Services
01376 516513
essexheatingservices@googlemail.com
www.essexheatingservices.co.uk
MagnaClean before washing with Tap Water
MagnaClean before washing with Tap Water
Collar removed from the Magnet as seen on the side
After cleaning simply slide Collar back onto Magnet. It only goes on one way.
Collar removed from the Magnet as seen on the side
After cleaning simply slide Collar back onto Magnet. It only goes on one way.
Checking Gas Rates and Heat Inputs – Natural Gas
November 3, 2009 by carl
CHECKING GAS RATES AND HEAT INPUTS (M3)
NATURAL GAS
Where the gas meter records the gas consumption in cubic metres the following procedure should be used.
Gas Rate Procedure Meter Measuring in m3
The following procedure is just one method of calculating gas rate: -
- Turn all the appliances OFF.
- Record the meter reading. (example shows a reading of 00048.104m3)
- Turn the appliance under test to FULL ON.
- At the same time as turning the appliance on start recording the time
- When exactly two minutes have elapsed record the meter reading. (example shows a reading of 00048.188m3)
- Subtract the first reading from the second reading. This will give you the volume of gas passed in m3.
Gas rate over two minutes: -
| = | 48.188 |
| -48.104 | |
| = | 00.084 m3 |
Therefore the Gas Rate over 1 minute
| = | 00.084 m3 ÷ 2 |
| = | 0.042m3 |
So to calculate the hourly consumption, the gas rate for 1 minute is multiplied by the number of minutes in an hour.
Therefore Gas Rate/hour
| = | 0.042 x 60 |
| = | 2.52m3/hr |
We can convert this figure to cubic feet by multiplying the figure by 35.37.
Therefore 2.52 x 35.37 = 89.1324ft3/hr
Gross Heat Input = 89.1324 x 1040 = 92697 Btu/hr (27.16 KW)
To assist in the process, the chart below has been configured to provide an easy reference. It is based on a GROSS CV of 38.79MJ/m3 (1040 Btu/ft3). So in our example over a two minute period 0.084m3 is used, look at the table below for 0.080 = 2.40 m3/hr (25.8KW) and 0.004 = 0.12m3/hr (1.3KW). Add the two together 2.40 + 0.12 = 2.52m3/hr and a gross input of
25.8 + 1.3 = 27.1KW
|
GAS USED in 2 Minutes |
HOURLY RATE EQUIVALENT |
EQUIVALENT HEAT INPUT |
||
|
M3 |
M3 |
Ft3 |
kW |
Btu/hr |
|
0.001 |
0.03 |
1.06 |
0.3 |
1100 |
|
0.002 |
0.06 |
2.12 |
0.6 |
2200 |
|
0.003 |
0.09 |
3.18 |
1.0 |
3300 |
|
0.004 |
0.12 |
4.24 |
1.3 |
4400 |
|
0.005 |
0.15 |
5.31 |
1.6 |
5500 |
|
0.006 |
0.18 |
6.37 |
1.9 |
6600 |
|
0.007 |
0.21 |
7.43 |
2.3 |
7700 |
|
0.008 |
0.24 |
8.49 |
2.6 |
8800 |
|
0.009 |
0.27 |
9.55 |
2.9 |
9900 |
|
0.010 |
0.30 |
10.61 |
3.2 |
11000 |
|
0.020 |
0.60 |
21.22 |
6.4 |
22000 |
|
0.030 |
0.90 |
31.83 |
9.7 |
33000 |
|
0.040 |
1.20 |
42.44 |
12.9 |
44000 |
|
0.050 |
1.50 |
53.06 |
16.1 |
55000 |
|
0.060 |
1.80 |
63.67 |
19.3 |
65900 |
|
0.070 |
2.10 |
74.28 |
22.5 |
76900 |
|
0.080 |
2.40 |
84.89 |
25.8 |
87900 |
|
0.090 |
2.70 |
95.50 |
29.0 |
98900 |
|
0.100 |
3.00 |
106.11 |
32.3 |
109800 |
|
0.200 |
6.00 |
212.22 |
64.4 |
219700 |
Note: – Essex Heating Services accepts no liability for the accuracy of this table and the figures that it contains. You should check the data before using it to carry out any adjustments. (Please refer to the Gas Regulations before implementation – this is your responsibility).
Water Heater Horror Story!
October 30, 2009 by carl
It’s not every day that you feel compelled to write about a situation that has come to your attention that is extremely dangerous and life threatening, but today is one of those days.
Essex Heating Services was asked to look at a Water Heater (Main Multi Point BF) for a commercial operation that was not firing up. The Owner of the establishment said that the unit had stopped working the day before and that an engineer had been back today (which would have been Tuesday 27 October 2009). When the engineer left he said that it was working ok.
Needless to say it wasn’t and could not have been!
When we took the casing off we could not believe the state of the unit. Have a look for yourself at the pictures we took. The front of the unit had been packed with chunks of Fire Proofing that was loose all around the inside of the case.
You have to ask yourself, “Why would an engineer leave a unit in this condition knowing it was unsafe and a potential death trap?” It left us speechless. Someone could have been killed due to Carbon Monoxide Poisoning or the place could have burnt down.
We issued a warning notice to the owner and isolated the Gas and Water supply to the appliance. After discussion with the owner it was decided to replace the water heater with a new one.
We keep pointing out time and time again to make sure that the Gas Engineer who is carrying out work for you is Gas Safe Registered. Ask to see his card and take a note of his Gas Safe Number. This is for your protection.
Contact Essex Heating Services to have your Commercial or Domestic Appliances: -
Serviced
Repaired
Maintained
Replaced
01376 516513
07717 748507
essexheatingservices@googlemail.com