If radiators are old, chances are they have accumulated corrosion sludge that is reducing efficiency and increasing running costs. Some or all of the following may indicate excessive sludge:

• Radiators are slow to heat up, only heat up partially or not at all
• Radiators are hot at the top and side and cold at the bottom and middle
• Radiators require regular venting (this is often hydrogen gas, a by-product of corrosion)
• Radiators, boiler, pump and/or pipework are noisy
• Black water or sludge is present if a radiator is vented or removed

Powerflushing is a deep clean of radiators and pipework that removes 90% of sludge and corrosion debris. The process we use involves the following:

1. A high-performance powerflushing machine and accessories to pump water at high speed through the system
2. Regular reversal of the flow direction to maximise the cleaning action
3. Special cleaning chemicals to loosen corrosion sludge and make it easier to flush out
4. Mechanical agitation using a special nylon head on a hammer tool to agitate the radiators whilst the flushing is in progress
5. Heat from the boiler (if available) to improve the performance of the cleaning chemicals
6. Each radiator is isolated and individually powerflushed
7. For open vented system, we generally remove the H-section of pipework for cleaning as this is prone to blocking, and also clean or replace the feed and expansion cistern (F&E cistern)
8. For combination boilers, we generally remove, clean and descale the secondary heat exchanger (for the hot water) as again this is prone to blockages