Electronic device on cold water pipe, what is its function ?

[louiscribber]

this device is on a cold water pipe in my airing cupboard, I dont know what it does/

its been turned on for the past 8 years since i moved in to my apartment

the cold water pipe in question feeds a little tank (expansion talk of unvented system, and also it feeds the electric shower.

i googled it but found nothing

 

[StephenW]

Looks to me like an electric descaler. The coil of wire around the pipe generates a field which helps stop limescale forming. I have another make and it definitely extends the time between having to descale the shower heads by a factor of three or four (one month to four months). However, I believe the effect only lasts for about 3 days so if you're a low water user with a large storage tank then it won't help much.

 

[Agile]

fThey have little effect because the current is too low.

Good to hear the poster above thinks its doing something though.

The permanent magnet type are much beter but even so hardly half of users think they do anything.

Tony

 

[expertgasman]

Looks to me like an electric descaler. The coil of wire around the pipe generates a field which helps stop limescale forming. I have another make and it definitely extends the time between having to descale the shower heads by a factor of three or four (one month to four months). However, I believe the effect only lasts for about 3 days so if you're a low water user with a large storage tank then it won't help much.

It will efectively have no benefit to the stored water, but will help protect the element on the electric shower. Although, as tony subbests, some plumbers reckon they are a con. I happen to beleive otherwise