Central Heating Inhibitor - Price Variation

[Nilly]

I have been doing some work moving radiators at home, so have drained the CH system I want to add new inhibitor as I refill it. This is a sealed system on a WB Combi boiler.

I am just staggered by the variation in price - see below. Is this stuff that much different to justify a nearly 20x different between the top and bottom? I am a firm believer in 'you get what you pay for' so I would probably avoid the really cheap stuff and head somewhere in the middle.

What do people think?
Cheers
Mark

Toolstation: Qual-Rad Inhibitor 1L bottle (£6.42 per litre)
Screwfix: ‘No Nonsense’ Central Heating Inhibitor 500ml bottle £6.99(£13.98 per litre)
Screwfix: Sentinel X100 Inhibitor 1L bottle (£13.94 per litre)
Wickes: Own Brand Inhibitor 1L bottle (£14.99 per litre)
B&Q: Sentinel X100 Inhibitor 1L bottle (£16.50 per litre)
Screwfix: Fernox F1 Central Heating Protector 500ml bottle £19.99(£39.98 per litre)
Wickes & Screwfix: Fernox F1 Express Inhibitor & Protector 265ml Can £27.99 (£105 per litre)

 

[Armo74]

I usually use sentinel x100.
Also depends how many rads your treating.

 

[Agile]

I also only use Sentinel X100.

Its not surprising to me that when you are buying a bottle of unknown contents there can be a very wide variation of price.

With baked beans you can see and taste what you are buying but with inhibitor all you see is a clear liquid. It could just be water for all that you know!

My advice is to buy the branded products by Sentinel or Fernox and ignore the others!

Tony

 

[Tibbot]

OP- You're 'staggered' because like many outside the trade you can't see past the price. Products have different concentration levels and some are quick to apply, saving labour. The old Fernox MB1 was about £3/ltr but required a min 4 ltr dose.

 

[PotatoHead]

You missed out BES Cura inhibitor ~£3.50 / litre

It's the stuff I use and never had any problems. It comes with build-cert approval so meets the requirements. I only use it to satisfy the benchmark, and as a nice earner to top up systems for a tenner.

There's probably a good reason on the continent nobody even uses inhibitor.

I remember seeing a link a few years back listing all the different manufacturers and the concentrations of certain chemicals within, perhaps someone has it bookmarked.

 

[Agile]

Even if it was just water then as long as you had a clean system no one would ever know!

What is "build-cert" ?

Why do you think it is any good when it is so cheap?

Tony

 

[Nilly]

Thanks for the replies.

I think I’ll just go buy a bottle of mid price branded Sentinel X100 – even adjusting the ‘price’ with the manufacturers published recommended dosage and the amount I need for my 10 rad home system to give me a ‘cost’ (thanks to Tibbot for pointing that out!) there is still a variation between £3.50 and £20 for a bottle of stuff to pour in the hole. I attach no value to my DIY labour time so definitely wouldn’t spend £28 on the ‘express’ can.

In the end I’m relying on the brand - as Agile points out, the claimed concentrations and recommended dosage could be totally made up and I’d never know would I…..

Of course if I was in the trade I’d buy the BES – nice margin PotatoHead!!

Cheers!

BES Cura 1L is around £3.50 (1L treats a 100L system) – job cost £3.50.
BES Cura Concentrated 500ml is around same £3.50 price (500ml treats a 100L system) – job cost £3.50.
Toolstation: Qual-Rad Inhibitor 1L bottle (£6.42 per litre) (1L for 100L system – job cost £6.42
Screwfix: ‘No Nonsense’ Central Heating Inhibitor 500ml bottle £6.99 500ml for 100L system – job cost £6.99
Sentinel X100 Inhibitor 1L bottle (£13-16 per litre) (1L treats “typical domestic system 8-10 rads”) - job cost £13-16 range
Wickes: Own Brand Inhibitor 1L bottle (£14.99 per litre) ) (1L treats a 10 rad system) - job cost £15.
Fernox F1 Central Heating Protector 500ml bottle £19.99 (500ml bottle treats 100L system) - job cost £20.
Fernox F1 Express Inhibitor & Protector 265ml Can £27.99 (1x 265ml can treats 100L system up to 10 rads - job cost £28.

 

[PotatoHead]

Even if it was just water then as long as you had a clean system no one would ever know!

What is "build-cert" ?

Why do you think it is any good when it is so cheap?

Tony

I thought it had to be Buildcert approved to meet minimum standards, although it seems I might be wrong. http://www.buildcert.com/cias.htm

I also wouldn't say it's the best, but for the price/performance it is ideal for me, and I've never had an issue with corrosions on systems I've fitted.

There is also a huge proliferation of inhibitors on ebay that's worth looking at, just so long as you don't mind the stickers of the bottles missing.

 

[Agile]

Of course if I was in the trade I’d buy the BES – nice margin PotatoHead!!

Cheers!

Being in the trade makes me want to use a good branded product like Sentinel.

Having said that, if a system is clean, then inhibitor is not actually required. Except to satisfy manufacturer's warrantees.

Tony

 

[JBPHS]

Of course if I was in the trade I’d buy the BES – nice margin PotatoHead!!

Cheers!

Having said that, if a system is clean, then inhibitor is not actually required.

Tony

How do you define a clean system Tony? I'm intrigued.

James.

 

[jeff the gasman]

Of course if I was in the trade I’d buy the BES – nice margin PotatoHead!!

Cheers!

Having said that, if a system is clean, then inhibitor is not actually required.

Tony

How do you define a clean system Tony? I'm intrigued.

James.

I would define a clean system as one that had been properly cleansed upon commissioning with no air in it.
Once de- oxygenated the water becomes inert and will not corrode the metal.
Aluminium should have some extra protection though.
Modern fluxes are the main culprit and we all use too much of it just to be sure!
Jeff

 

[MalcolmLown1]

You are right to be wary of very cheap inhibitors, as some of them are, in a word, rubbish, but others like the Qualrad product are excellent. Look on the back label, see who manufactures the product, ask for, or ring the manufacturer for the MSDS(Safetly data) sheet, and compare it with more expensive products. The more expensive products have Build Cert, which is a rigorous test of a 1% solution with various metals over several days. It is an expensive test to have done independently.

How do I know this, well I am a self employed Chemist and occasionally work for Wessex Chemical Factors, who manufacture the Qualrad inhibitor. I know what goes into it and have some knowledge of the testing procedures that the formulation of that product went through. Wessex Chemical Factors have copied the apparatus and conditions of the Build Cert test and applied it to their own product before release.

Wessex Chemical Factors supply that product to numerous Plumbers Merchants throughout the UK under different names, but the Wessex name is always on the back label.

I produced an information blurb for Plumbers merchants who bought this product, as they were being asked how it compared to the “industry standard” of Sentinel X100.
This is that information :-

The formulation was developed by us, and is unique to Wessex Chemical Factors.
It is not identical to the formula for Sentinel X100, but similar.

The MSDS sheet for X100 can be found here :-
http://www.mkmbs.co.uk/Root/Documents/L009966.COSHHData.pdf
They both have the very similar active ingredients.
The Sentinel test kit which is used for determining if the right amount of inhibitor is in a system, is a test for
Molybdenum (Mo). If the right concentration of Mo is present, the solution goes yellow, as per a colour test
strip.
Both X100 and the Wessex Inhibitor contain Sodium Molybdate. Our inhibitor also has a blend of other sodium salts, which are excellent for the corrosion inhibition of ferrous metal.
For the inhibition of copper corrosion, X100 contains benzotriazole, the Wessex product has tolytriazole, the
“triazole” part being the important bit.

I apologise if this sounds too technical, but it is important to understand that although the 2 products have
slightly different ingredients the “active “ parts are the same.

Malcolm Lown
BScPhDCChemMRSC
Wessex Chemical Factors
wessexchemicalfactors


I would be more that happy to answer more questions on this if anyone is interested.

 

[Dan Robinson]

At the risk of encouraging advertising, what other than your product would you consider the best?

Why is inhibitor generally not used on the continent?

 

[Agile]

That is all very interesting Malcolm and many thanks for telling us!

Of course whilst you identify one similar product to X100 which is sold under several names and say how to identify it, that does not assist with the others.

The problem in this industry is that there has been no independent testing of the many brands which are on sale.

My reaction has been to stick with the X100 because I dont want to take any chances with my customer's systems.

But as Dan asks, why do they manage without it in Germany and most other EU countries?

What do you think is the status of this build Cert? It seems to be voluntary for any manufacturer to use it or not. It also seems to be a profit making company and have no statutory basis.

Tony

 

[dominoman]

You are not comparing like with like.

Some of the inhibitors listed are designed to be used at different concentrations, so for example 500ml of the ScrewFix No Nonsense stuff is equal to 1 litre of Sentinel X100.

I wish there was some kind of authoritative comparison, but most people here just make their choice and stick with it. Generally that means big brand (Fernox or Sentinel) or cheap (unbranded).

Who's to say that cheap unbranded is less good. It may well be exactly the same stuff. Your choice depends on how cost conscious you are.