Power Flushing in Rochester

How Power Flushing Works

Power flushing involves connecting a specialist high-flow pump to your central heating circuit and pushing a powerful cleaning solution through every radiator, pipe, and your boiler's heat exchanger. The chemical loosens sludge, limescale, and corrosion deposits from the inside surfaces of your system. Our engineers then flush each radiator individually, draining off the contaminated water until it runs clean.

Rochester sits in Kent's hard water belt. The elevated mineral content in the local water supply means limescale builds up faster inside heating systems here than in soft water areas. This limescale coats the inside of your boiler's heat exchanger, reducing its ability to transfer heat and forcing the boiler to use more gas to reach the same temperature. A thorough power flush removes this limescale layer alongside the sludge.

Once the system is clean, we dose it with a chemical inhibitor — Fernox or Sentinel — to slow down future corrosion and scale formation. We also recommend fitting a magnetic filter, which catches metallic debris before it can circulate through your system.

Common Symptoms of a Contaminated System

• Radiators cold at the bottom, warm at the top
• Certain radiators in the house never get properly hot
• Boiler kettling — a rumbling or banging noise when the heating fires up
• System takes a long time to reach temperature
• Dark brown or black water when radiators are bled
• Frequent need to bleed radiators

Why Rochester Properties Benefit From Power Flushing

The conservation area around Rochester Cathedral and the streets leading down to the Esplanade contain some of the oldest residential properties in Medway. Many were originally heated by open fires or back boilers, with wet central heating added later. These retrofitted systems often have pipework that follows irregular routes through walls and under floors, creating low points where sludge settles and accumulates.

The terraced houses along Corporation Street, Star Hill, and the roads off Maidstone Road typically feature small-bore or microbore pipework, which is especially vulnerable to blockages because even a small amount of sludge can restrict flow through the narrow pipes.

On the edges of Rochester, the newer housing developments around Rochester Riverside and the Hook Meadow estate have modern heating systems that are less likely to need a power flush immediately, but will still benefit from one every 5 to 8 years as part of routine maintenance — particularly given the hard water in the area.