Sussex

Safety Advice for Students Heading in to Rented Properties

Safety Advice for Students Heading in to Rented Properties

OFTEC has supplied some basic Gas and Oil safety guidelines to help protect students in their search for a rented property.

What is a Powerflush?

What is a Powerflush?

A Powerflush is a cleansing process which aims to remove deposits of sludge, rust and any other debris from your central heating system.

These contaminants, if left, can seriously affect the efficiency of a heating system and, in severe cases, a powerflush could be the only option available. Over time the water in your pipes, boiler and radiators deposits unwanted byproducts like rust. This rust (plus other dirt and debris) becomes an unpleasant, mud-like substance that professionals affectionately refer to as ‘sludge’.

Sludge in your heating system can cause to blockages and corrosion which will lead to both inefficiency and / or breakdown. In extreme cases it can be so damaging that a complete boiler replacement is needed.

Households could be missing out on significant fuel bill savings

Households could be missing out on significant fuel bill savings

With the warm weather hopefully on its way, households are being urged to ‘spring clean’ their heating system to avoid missing out on significant savings.

The recent ‘Beast from the East’ double storm emphasised the importance of keeping your heating system in tip top shape. Now the weather has started to settle down, it’s a good time to check everything is working efficiently to ensure you make the most of the savings on your fuel bills during the warmer months.

In response OFTEC, which represents the oil heating industry, has issued a spring cleaning checklist to help people cut energy costs over the warmer months:

  1. Adjust your heating timers. Check the heating is coming on at the correct time, especially if you changed the ‘On/Off’ times to heat your home for longer during the cold weather.

  2. Turn off individual radiators. Ensure you aren’t wasting money heating rooms you aren’t using. Also check the radiator temperatures in your main rooms if these were set higher during the cold weather.

  3. Make sure you have enough heating oil. You may have used more oil than usual during the prolonged cold snap. Check how much you have left and top up early to avoid any emergency deliveries. We recommend you use an FPS fuel supplier.

  4. Have your boiler serviced. The sub-zero temperatures this winter mean that your boiler and heating system will have been working very hard. Have the system checked over by a GasSafe (for mains gas) or OFTEC (for oil) registered technician who will ensure it is working correctly and to maximum efficiency. Abbey Boilers do LPG, Gas and Oil annual services

All Things Oil Tanks

Below, is a brief guide to oil tanks. From price to size to oil regulations Abbey Boilers has the experience and the expertise to answer all your questions. 

The tanks themselves:

Oil tanks can be installed inside, outside, or underground. Heating oil tanks are made of fabricated steel or plastic. Both of which can be integrally bunded (tank has two layers)  or single skinned. Integrally bunded tanks are made of one tank inside another. The outside one housing the main tank's fittings and vents. This type of tank tends to offer better protection than the single skinned tanks because there is more room between the two layers to prevent oil leaking externally. 

The essentials:

Most single skinned tanks need to have a bund built around them for protection. However, the necessity of this is dependent on where you live and the position of your tank. The bund is designed to hold up to 110% of your tank's contents in order to avoid spillages. 

Checking your tank:

OFTEC (the Oil Firing Technical Association) recommend you look over your tank weekly, for any cracks, bulges or rust, which may allow fuel to leak and damage the surrounding environment. 

Nonetheless, it is also important to get a qualified oil engineer to inspect your tank annually. Abbey Boilers inspects your oil tank as part of your annual service for just £72.  It is also recommended to do this if you have recently moved into a new property with an oil tank. 

Furthermore, steel tanks have an oil-resistant coating. this coating needs maintaining in order to prolong the life of the tank. It is best to check with the manufacturers to find out what kind of maintenance your tank needs besides its annual service.  

Buying your oil tank:

It is essential for your safety and the safety of the wildlife and the environment that you get an oil tank that is OFTEC approved and fitted by an OFTEC registered engineer. 

Abbey Boilers both supplies and fits oil tanks. Click here to contact us for more information about the type of tank you should have and where it should be placed in order to meet oil tank regulations. 

Tanks vary in size depending on your requirements. They can hold between 1,000 to over 3,500 litres (although the larger tanks tend to be for commercial use). The prices of the tanks generally vary between £500 to £2000. 

Are you cleaning your system often enough?

The UK trade marketing manager for Sentinel, Daniel Cheung, claims, 'an up close and personal' approach is essential to maintaining a long-term, healthy, heating system. 

Filthy water circulating in your heating system is both common and damaging, as corrosion is the number one cause of boiler breakdowns. Corrosion can cause other expensive problems with your boiler including; repairs, part replacement, complete boiler failure, increased energy consumption, ineffective heating as a result of radiator cold spots, loss of boiler warranty and higher heating bills. 

Research from two leading boiler manufacturers found that in over 5000 homes 35% of heating systems under 5 years old and more than 50% of systems over 5 years old contain dirty circulating water. It is recommended for heating engineers to always consider dirty water when looking for solutions to boiler issues. For example, 'if the heat exchanger is clogged in a relatively new system' of it the pump shaft is broken it could be because of rust flakes in the water.

Considering a dirty system doesn't end with checking the quality of system water, but should also include a system cleanse. In order to do this effectively, the correct cleaning agents must be used and this is determined by the type of dirt present in the system. it is similar to how you wouldn't use shampoo to wash your clothes or washing up liquid to wash your toilet, different cleaning chemicals do different jobs.