Open fire back boiler plumbing advice please

[Sidon100]

Hi all. We recently bought a cottage with an open fire that uses a back boiler to heat DHW through a gravity fed coil in the tank (with overflow into a tank in the loft) and also has a pumped circuit supplying 7 small radiators for background heat. We know that this set up is very inefficient but it actually works surprisingly well. As the house is only used for occasional weekends and holidays it doesn't matter so much that we have to use quite a lot of coal to get things warmed up nicely, and it's not a big space. We have an electric immersion heater for hot water if needed.
When the fire is running with the CH pump turned out, it prioritises the rads and they get reasonably warm but when looking at the way the rads are plumbed in I was surprised by the way it had been done and feel it can't be correct - the pump pushes water through the back boiler and up to a small manifold. I would expect this to be the flow side with another manifold for the return and then back to the pump, but it looks to me that flow and return are connected to the same manifold. Surely this can't be right. The attached picture shows the set up. I would greatly appreciate your views. Thanks

 

[Sidon100]

Sorry to bump this. Could any of you experts please tell me if the piping shown above, with flow and return, apparently, on the same manifold is correct? The rads get warm but I would like to make it better if possible. Do I need to get flow and return on separate manifolds?

 

[grahamderek]

That is 2 manifolds. There's a blanking disc halfway along.

 

[Terrywookfit]

It would depend on the internal configuration of the manifold.

 

[polesapart]

That is 2 manifolds. There's a blanking disc halfway along.

+1

 

[Sidon100]

Thank you for clearing this up. It is 2 manifolds in 1 with a blanking disc in the middle. Apparently it's a Yorkshire Micrafold manifold.Quite a neat solution really, but they have stopped making them. It all makes sense now and I am relieved that we don't have to start re-plumbing. In fact, it is good that all the radiator flow and return pipes come back to this central distribution point as it gives us control options in the future.

Now I know that the piping is correct I can either accept that the open fire is very inefficient and live with it or think about some kind of stove with a back boiler which would be more efficient. There is no gas in the village. Thanks again.