Heat Mains

[Mike2007]

Has anybody ever put a heat main into a property (boiler in out building). We are looking at 32mm Uponor pipe with trace heating (top quality brand). Does anybody know of any other in this market place?
http://www.uponor.co.uk/solutions/r...ions/pre-insulated-systems/uponor-thermo.aspx

Cheers

 

[OwainDIYer]

if you have a well insulated pipe with a frost stat and lots of antifreeze you shouldn't need trace heating.

Use a heat exchanger at the house end so only the boiler and underground section has to be filled with antifreeze (which is expensive)

If you have a pump on the circuit at the house end controlled by the programmer, and a flow switch at the boiler end wired to call for heat, you won't need to run a control cable from house to boiler either.

http://wiki.diyfaq.org.uk/index.php?title=Andy_Hall_of_Fame

 

[Mike2007]

if you have a well insulated pipe with a frost stat and lots of antifreeze you shouldn't need trace heating.

Use a heat exchanger at the house end so only the boiler and underground section has to be filled with antifreeze (which is expensive)

If you have a pump on the circuit at the house end controlled by the programmer, and a flow switch at the boiler end wired to call for heat, you won't need to run a control cable from house to boiler either.

http://wiki.diyfaq.org.uk/index.php?title=Andy_Hall_of_Fame[/QUOTE]

I think with a complicated pipe run underground heat loss is very important to keep to a minimum. Copper pipework only "attracts" heat loss in this type of installation. The trace heating integrated into the Uponor pipe seems expensive but excellent for long term work.

I just wanted to see if there as an alternative?

 

[Norcon]

Uponor wrote

Anti freeze cable

For liquids and water transport
at extremely low temperatures,
Uponor Supra can be optionally
supplied with an anti-freeze cable.
It makes good sense to use this
cable if the pipeline is installed
in conditions lacking weather
protection.

As you can see the afc is there to protect against frost. Not heat the contents within the pipe which will only exacerbate energy loss.

If you were installing Aqua single in Lithunia where -20 occurs for sustained periods then you would lower this pipe into a 2m deep excavation in the ground and no cable needed.
For exposed areas then the heat cable is a good option or a circulation loop controlled via a stat for HW.

Rehau make versions of this pipe though maybe not as extensive a range as uponor.