Rising gas prices create seasonal opportunity for limescale protection

With gas bills set to rise this autumn and heating systems returning to regular use, Cistermiser is encouraging plumbing and heating merchants to prepare for increased conversations around boiler efficiency and limescale protection.

Ofgem has confirmed that the energy price cap will increase by 4% from 1 October, taking the annual bill for a typical household paying by Direct Debit for gas and electricity from £1,663 to £1,723. While electricity costs will remain broadly stable following the temporary removal of VAT, gas bills are expected to rise by 8%, largely as a result of higher wholesale prices.

For millions of households, the increase comes just as central heating systems begin doing their heaviest work of the year. Cistermiser says this makes the weeks ahead an important opportunity for merchants and installers alike, as customers look for ways to ensure their boilers are operating as efficiently as possible, particularly in hard water areas where limescale can build up unseen inside boiler heat exchangers.

Around 60% of the UK lies within a hard water area, and when hard water is heated, calcium and magnesium deposits can form limescale on internal surfaces, including boiler heat exchangers and hot water pipework.

The resulting layer acts as an insulator between the heat exchanger and the water, meaning more energy can be required to achieve the same heat output. British Water figures indicate that 1.6mm of scale within a heating system can result in a 12% loss in heating efficiency.

Richard Braid, Managing Director at Cistermiser, comments: “Customers are understandably going to be thinking about heating costs again as we head into autumn, particularly following the latest increase in gas prices. That creates an opportunity for merchants and installers to help customers look beyond whether a boiler is simply working and consider what can be done to help keep it working efficiently.

“For merchants in particular, this is a timely opportunity to make sure scale prevention is part of the conversation at the counter. Limescale is easy to overlook because much of the damage happens where the homeowner cannot see it, but in hard water areas, allowing scale to build up on a heat exchanger can make the boiler work harder to deliver the heat the customer is paying for.

“At this time of year, when installers are servicing boilers, replacing heating equipment or preparing customers' homes for winter, it makes sense to talk about preventative measures too. Protecting the heat exchanger from scale is a relatively straightforward intervention that can help maintain efficiency and potentially extend the working life of the appliance.”

Cistermiser's Combimate is a polyphosphate scale inhibitor designed to prevent limescale build-up in domestic hot water systems. Fitted to the cold water supply, it uses food-grade Combiphos to prevent scale-forming minerals accumulating on hot surfaces, without removing naturally occurring minerals or altering water hardness.

Requiring no electricity or magnets, Combimate can protect an individual boiler or wider hot water system and, when fitted alongside a new boiler, heat exchanger or thermal store, is backed by Cistermiser's Lifetime Scale Prevention Guarantee, subject to installation and maintenance requirements.

Richard adds: “Energy prices aren't something merchants or installers can control, but helping customers get the most from the energy they use is. As the heating season begins, making limescale protection part of the conversation is one relatively simple step that can make a meaningful difference over the lifetime of a boiler.”