Can someone identify what this might be?

[onionsa]

I was just having a nose in a large pipe box which I assumed only had 2 heating pipes in for a radiator that I'm planning on moving, and to my horror I find a large pipe lurking in the darkness. It looks the size of other gas pipes that I have located around the house but I can't for the life of me think what it would be for. It looks like the pipe comes from the ceiling above (bedroom) but it is hard to tell looking up the pipe box, it may bend back in and connect to the wall. The bottom connection is definitely leading back into the wall. The wall in question is an adjoining wall to the neighbours entrance hall way. What could this pipe be for?

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[gasmanstu72]

is there nothing the other side of the wall outside? perhaps even some evidence of a pipe thats been removed?

radiator pipes usually travel in pairs, so do hot an colds. a pipe on its own is usually gas or a drain off.

can you lift the floor upstairs and have a look and see if its there?

 

[onionsa]

The wall is an interior wall between our house and the neighbours, and it is their hallway on the other side of the wall.

The heating pipes can be seen in the bottom of the first picture just about. I should have included them more for clarity. I could get access to that part of the floor upstairs but not any time soon as it will mean disrupting our main bedroom alot. Not ideal at this time of year...

 

[footprints]

As it is insulated I would be surprised if it is gas.
Was it perhaps to the original sink position when the house was built?

 

[onionsa]

This one isn't insulated. I'm wondering if it could have been the original boiler location or something like that. We've always had the combi in the loft since we lived here. Puzzling to say the least this one!!

 

[footprints]

This one isn't insulated. I'm wondering if it could have been the original boiler location or something like that. We've always had the combi in the loft since we lived here. Puzzling to say the least this one!!

I must be looking at thewrong pipe the one on it's own with green deposits, I can see joints in the insulation on that one

 

[onionsa]

No thats the right pipe, but they're kinks in the copper(?) pipe. Its about an inch in diameter to give you a scale.

 

[footprints]

Looking again it may be a split in the pipe I can see.

 

[footprints]

Fair chance it is a flow or return from an old boiler then I guess.

 

[onionsa]

I've just stuck my phone back in there with the torch to see if I could get a pic of where the pipe leads to/from up top and it looks like it traces the heating pipes route. The house is a 70's build, is this how they used to do things back then?

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[stem]

I had a similar set up in my kitchen and the larger pipe was a left over from an original 'one pipe' heating system. When the heating was updated, new twin pipes were run alongside it, leaving a 3 pipe set up like you have. Earlier, because of your comment about the neighbours hallway I had assumed it went through the wall to next door, but maybe it doesn't, perhaps it's just buried in the wall to get it around the edge of the floor.

 

[Nige F]

The house is a 70's build, is this how they used to do things back then?

70's - some still used gravity flow and return to the hot water cylinder - that could be the flow, the return could be elsewhere forming a large loop and maybe picking up a towel rail ( back in the day)

 

[onionsa]

Thanks for all the replies. I too think this is old heating of some sort as it is tracing the same route. Initially I couldn't see if the pipe came from the ceiling or wall at the top but having taken the picture and zoomed in, I'm confident that it is coming from the ceiling. When I get the heating pipes capped off to remove the radiator, I'll also get that pipe capped and removed.

Thanks again everyone for your input.

 

[EAST61]

Did they have Talon hinged pipe clips in the 70s then?

 

[onionsa]

My guess would be that was put on when the pipework was changed.