Professional Builder puts the questions to Halcyan Water Conditioners on the product and its Approved Installer Scheme
Q: What are Halcyan Water Conditioners?
A: Halcyan Water Conditioners are whole house, solid alloy core units that plumb into the incoming cold main and protect the entire house by preventing new limescale accumulation, removing existing limescale throughout the system and delivering gentler, more people – (skin and hair) friendly, money saving, and energy saving water.
Q Can you tell us about the purpose of the Approved Installer Scheme and who’s involved?
A: Halcyan and its end user customers need local, reliable, professional plumbers and installers for its customers. What we can offer tradespeople is a steady stream of new customers and straightforward installation work. Leads to new homeowners should hopefully turn into long term customers, and an improved profile as an environmentally aware company.
Q Where does the scheme operate?
A: The Approved Installers scheme is national, across all areas of the UK supplied with hard water. In London and the Home Counties various plumbers and HWC are already partnering up to provide a seamless service for domestic and light commercial customers.
Q How does the scheme work?
A: On the Halcyan website, there’s a page to assist customers in locating their nearest professional, competent plumber to install a Halcyan unit. The customer enters their postcode into the search function on the map and the nearest providers to them pop up with all their contact details and credentials. The customer can then select who they want to ask to do the work and contact them directly. Our expectation is that, to deliver good customer service, the customer will receive useful contact from the installer within 48 hours of requesting help. The customer will pay the plumber for the installation but are likely to already be in possession of their Halcyan unit having purchased it directly.
When a plumber’s customer shows an interest in, or need for, effective limescale treatment, they can supply them with Halcyan information to assist their decision making. Postcards and brochures can be provided to the plumber to assist them. If the customer chooses to purchase a Halcyan unit, while there is the option for them to buy it directly, if they purchase it via their plumber then the plumber will be able to purchase the unit at a 10% discount securing a £87 bonus for themselves. If a plumber refers a new customer of theirs to us – and the customer buys the unit (without any other discount) then they can claim the 10% in commission rather than as a discount on purchasing it. All they have to do is let us know the customer they’re referring and invoice us after they’ve purchased.
Q What do you need to know about, and do, with Halcyan units?
A: Installation of a Halcyan unit is very straightforward and should only take 30-90 mins depending on the existing system setup. For the vast majority of UK homes the H2o9 unit will be optimum. In very rare cases some homes require the larger H2o18 unit where the household uses large volumes of water, all at the same point in time.
The H2o9 unit is only 110mm long so should fit into any space. For the ease of the installer the H2o9 unit comes with either 22mm/3/4” BSPT or 15mm/1/2” BSPP female connectors to suit the home’s existing incoming mains. The installer is required to supply the appropriate compression fittings to connect the unit to the pipework.
We suggest keeping a selection of compression fittings for 22mm/3/4” and 15mm/1/2” straight and reducers. If the customer has correctly identified the size of their incoming main then they should have purchased a unit with the same pipe diameter so straight connectors will be the choice. If they haven’t chosen the correct size then a simple use of a reducer compression fitting will solve the problem.
In cases where the mains is greater than 22mm then, again, reducing compression fittings can be used. Installers also need to install one single or double 22mm non-return valve between the stop tap and the Halcyan unit.
Other installation considerations.
• The unit is non-directional; so can be fitted in either direction
• No bonding/earthing is needed
• No power is needed
• There are no considerations around needing a length of straight pipe before or after the unit
• The unit should NOT be placed within less than 2m of a pump (before or after)
Full installation instructions are available on the website.
Q What about after the installation?
A: Once installed you need to take clear photos of the installed unit showing the surrounding pipework, and a handful of photos of the main outlets and fixtures showing clearly the current state of scaling, or none. These images need loading onto Halcyan’s website form on the Trade page or here: Register Your Warranty – For Installer – Halcyan Water Conditioner.
This needs to be completed within 7 days of installation as they provide the benchmark for any future queries with regard to performance of the unit.
So how does the Halcyan unit differ from what’s already on the market? It uses no salts or chemicals, there’s no dosing, and its entirely passive in operation. Halcyan Water Conditioners have a solid alloy core so do not degrade or need replacing – each unit comes with a 30 year warranty. The calcium carbonate minerals remain in the water (so a dusty white residue is visible) but stay in their non-bonding form for 21 days, so don’t build up into crusty limescale. At only 110mm long, it’s very compact, so can fit in the smallest spaces, and is, of course, WRAS approved.
Q What if there’s a problem?
A: Our Customer Service team are on hand to help you, or the customer, whenever you need it. If you have installation queries then ring us on 0345 5040 656 and we’ll assist however we can. If the customer has queries either during the installation, prior to purchase or issues after installation then again Halcyan’s customer support team will be there to assist in resolving any queries or issues.
If you’d like to get a better idea of how it works visit https://halcyanwater.com/the-system-explained/.
Or to meet the Halcyan Water Conditioners team go to: https://halcyanwater.com/our-team/.
You can also view an installation video at https://halcyanwater.com/how-to-install-the-halcyan-water-conditioner/.
