Powerflushing, Chemicals & Central Heating Filters

A deep clean of your radiators

What is powerflushing?

Powerflushing is essentially a deep, comprehensive clean of your radiators and central heating system, using powerful chemicals to flush out the sludge, rust and any other debris that may have settled over time in your radiators, pipes and boiler.

Powerflushing is recommended for all radiators unless your radiators are especially old; for example, if you’ve moved into a property where the radiators were installed in the 1940s or 50s.

The ultimate aim of a powerflush is to ensure that water can fully circulate your entire heating system, enabling it to work efficiently to heat your home. The process of powerflushing:

• Rids your central heating system of sludge
• Stops this sludge from corroding or damaging your system
• Helps to keep your system working more efficiently and for longer, reducing the chances of your heating system breaking down and saving you money on your energy bills
• Ensures that heat is distributed evenly throughout your home

Signs that your central heating system may be in need of a powerflush

Powerflushing is key to maintaining a healthy central heating system and avoiding breakdown and there are some clear signs that your system could benefit from this type of deep clean:

• Some rooms in your home feel colder than others, even when all of your radiators are switched on
• It takes a long time for your central heating system to warm up
• Your radiators feel warm at the top but cold at the bottom
• You need to bleed your radiators more frequently
• Your boiler is increasingly noisy (although this can also be a sign of other issues)
• Discoloured water when you bleed your radiators
• Cloudy tap water in instances where there is a significant build up of limescale
• A limited hot water supply or possibly no hot water at all, even when your heating has been switched on for some time

How does powerflushing work?

To begin the process, a powerful pump, which is attached to the powerflushing machine, is connected to your central heating system.

On a standard central heating system, this means removing the pump and connecting the powerflush hoses to the pump valves. On a combi-boiler system, the powerflushing hoses would be connected to your radiators.

The pump on a powerflushing machine moves fluid through your system 4-5 times faster than the pump on your central heating system, which gives it the power to remove the sludge deposits that typical pressure can’t flush away.

Next, a series of high strength cleansing chemicals are pumped through the heating system to flush out all contaminants. The chemical solutions used typically include an agent to help break down and remove rust and sludge, a descaler to break down limescale and a corrosion inhibitor to stop further rust from occurring.

How long does it take to powerflush a central heating system?

Completed to a high standard, powerflushing takes several hours from start to finish. The time can vary depending on the size of the central heating system and whether the system is particularly dirty, but essentially, powerflushing your heating system will take a full day.

Which chemical cleaner?

All of our powerflushes use high quality chemical solutions by Sentinel, a lead international brand with a strong reputation for providing best practice, innovative products for maintaining clean, efficient central heating systems.

Central heating filters

Once a powerflush has been completed, central heating filters can further protect your system by reducing the amount of sludge, rust and limescale that build up in your central heating system.

We recommend central heating filters for all systems, and in particular, we recommend the award-winning Magnaclean Adey filter, which we provide and install for £150 on the system that we are powerflushing.

If you’d like further advice or information about our powerflushing system, contact our friendly team

Our Gas Safe Register number is 11595.