It’s not every day that heating and plumbing engineers are encouraged to ‘think dirty’ on the job, but that’s exactly what best practice water treatment specialist, Sentinel, is doing with the launch of one of its biggest (in this case, size does matter) campaigns yet.
Supported by boiler manufacturers, merchants and industry bodies, Sentinel’s tongue-in-cheek ‘Think Dirty’ campaign aims to raise awareness around the issue of dirty circulating water, and help installers to deliver best practice cleaning as quickly and easily as possible through the selection of suitable cleaning chemicals.
Poor water quality is a common problem; research conducted by Sentinel and two leading boiler manufacturers in over 50,000 UK homes found that 35% of heating systems under five years old and more than 50% of systems over five years old suffer from dirty circulating water, while 87% of systems tested have insufficient inhibitor protection.
Moreover, the consequences of dirty water are often dire, and can include pin-hole corrosion and component failure (which can occur within months of commissioning), radiator cold spots, excessive energy consumption, low heat output and loss of boiler warranty – all of which can result in call-backs, complaints and loss of business for installers.
Sentinel’s solution? Achieve an effective, best practice clean by thinking dirty; consider the age of the heating system, the type of dirt in it, and the extent of fouling, and then use the appropriate cleaning chemical for that system.
For example, systems less than six months old should be cleaned with Sentinel X300 for New Systems – aptly partnered with the strapline ‘You never forget your first time’ under the Think Dirty campaign.
Need to squeeze in a quickie? Then Sentinel X800 Fast Acting Cleaner (for systems older than six months) is the best choice, as it can remove adhering and settled corrosion deposits and scale in as little as one hour. The Think Dirty campaign has come up trumps for X800, with the saucy but memorable strapline ‘You and me, non-stop for the next hour’.
Sentinel’s Think Dirty campaign will run throughout the heating season, giving installers plenty of opportunity to get dirty minded and put best practice cleaning into practice.