Power Flushing in Lordswood

The Science Behind the Sludge

Central heating sludge is primarily magnetite — a black iron oxide that forms when the steel inside your radiators reacts with the water and dissolved oxygen in the system. This fine, gritty material is drawn downward by gravity, settling in the bottom of radiators and in the low points of pipework runs. Over years, this layer thickens until it blocks a significant portion of the radiator's internal volume.

In Lordswood, as across all of Medway, the water supply is hard. The dissolved calcium and magnesium in the water precipitate out as limescale when heated, coating the inside of your boiler's heat exchanger and narrowing the bore of your pipes. The combination of sludge and scale is particularly destructive because it restricts both flow and heat transfer simultaneously.

A power flush uses a dedicated pump to circulate professional cleaning chemicals through the system at far higher flow rates than your boiler can produce on its own. This breaks down and flushes out both the sludge and the scale in a single visit. We then add inhibitor to protect the cleaned system and can fit a magnetic filter to continuously capture metallic particles going forward.

Indicators That Your System Needs Attention

• Radiators with cold lower halves
• Uneven heating between upstairs and downstairs radiators
• Boiler making kettling or banging noises
• System slow to reach thermostat temperature
• Discoloured bleed water from radiators
• Rising gas consumption without increased usage

Lordswood Homes and Their Heating Challenges

The housing in Lordswood was built in distinct phases. The area around North Dane Way and the streets between Lordswood and Capstone Country Park date from the mid-1970s and feature homes with original heating systems that are now around 50 years old. Even with boiler replacements, the steel radiators in these properties have been quietly corroding for half a century.

The later developments closer to Walderslade Woods, built during the 1980s, are only slightly newer in terms of their heating infrastructure. These properties often have larger systems — 10 to 14 radiators — because the houses themselves tend to be spacious. A larger system means more steel, more water, and more surface area for sludge to accumulate.

One characteristic of Lordswood that affects heating demand is its elevated, exposed position. Sitting on the ridge above the Medway valley, properties here are more affected by wind chill than homes in the valley floor. An efficient heating system is essential for maintaining comfortable indoor temperatures, and a sludge-filled system simply cannot deliver the output needed on cold, windy days.