VIDEO - Why adding inhibitor is beneficial to your heating system

19 February 2015

You can purchase chemical inhibitor on our website here.

In this video, James the plumber demonstrates just how important inhibitor is in keeping your central heating system running smoothly and efficiently.

In the video, James conducts a simple experiment whereby he places a bunch of nails in two separate jam jars. In one jar, he adds tap water to cover the nails. In the other jar, he uses the same amount of liquid to cover the nails, but uses half tap water, half inhibitor. After leaving the jars for two months, James comes back to see the results, which clearly demonstrate how vital inhibitor is.

The nails in the jar that contains inhibitor fluid are as shiny and clean as the day they were placed in the jar. In stark contrast, the nails in the jar filled purely with tap water have gone rusty, and the water is dirty and filled with a sludge-like substance. When water comes into contact with metal, there is a natural chemical reaction which can slowly cause the metal to corrode, with tiny pieces of metal often breaking off causing a brown sludge.

Inhibitor fluid helps to prevent that corrosion from occurring, which is why in this experiment, the nails seem so clean. If you now think of what is going on inside your central heating system, throughout the radiators, boiler and pipework, the process is exactly the same.

Water is constantly flowing around your system and, without inhibitor, a chemical reaction will be taking place. Over time, this will cause natural corrosion in your system, eventually leading to narrowing flow through your pipes, extra wear on the components inside your boiler and water pump and causing sludge to build up in the bottom of your radiators, which is a classic reason for hot and cold patches on your rads.

Adding inhibitor to your system is a simple process, but can work wonders in keeping your heating system clean and running efficiently. In the process, all components in your system will last longer, meaning less money needs to be spent on emergency repair work. It’s a win-win situation!