Hi all,
I have a question regarding a redesign of my central heating, and would like to get it right in my head before I approach a local professional to discuss options.
Specifically, I'm looking to work out whether the pump in my Worcester Bosch Combi 30si would be suitable for a new design of pipework. According to the installation manual, it has "Available pump head at 21°C system temperature rise" of 2.0m, which doesn't sound like a lot compared to figures which I have seen on here. This question may have been asked in other guises before, so I apologise if I've missed the (possibly basic) information to help me. I've been looking at flow rates and pipework resistance and wondering about vertical height etc, and am now just confused.
The current system has a mixture of copper, non-barrier pipe and copper microbore, with joins buried under concrete, in crawl spaces and generally very difficult to access areas. There is an issue at the moment with pressure loss which isn't the topic of this query, but it has made me consider a full re-plumb of the central heating pipework in BPEX so that all joins are in accessible areas. The home is in a state where some work could be undertaken, but copper would be too destructive unfortunately. There are new radiators, old radiators, and some rooms have capped pipework, ready to receive new radiators once the rooms have been plastered, decorated etc.
I see that JG do a speedfit manifold with flow indicators and air vent and the potential to upgrade in future with actuators to provide fully zoned central heating. I'm an IT professional by trade and like the idea of integrating these with sensors at some point to create a 'smart' central heating system. The manifold would obviously greatly help that.
I think I have deduced a safe route to the attic, where the manifold could be located at the centre of this 'star' topology. This is approx 12m from the boiler. There's likely a route to all radiators in the home from this point, albeit obviously at quite a greater distance than the shortest possible route would have been from the boiler originally.
The affordability depends much on whether the existing boiler can cope with the extra lengths of pipework. Would someone mind helping me work this out?
I'm looking at 2 towel radiators and 10 others being part of the system, presumably using 22mm BPEX to the manifold and 15mm to the radiators. I've been guesstimating distances of around 12m (+12m) from the boiler to where the manifold would be situated, and the maximum distance to one of the rads as 15m (+15m).
How can I work out whether the pump is suitable?
Thanks in advance,
Chris
I have a question regarding a redesign of my central heating, and would like to get it right in my head before I approach a local professional to discuss options.
Specifically, I'm looking to work out whether the pump in my Worcester Bosch Combi 30si would be suitable for a new design of pipework. According to the installation manual, it has "Available pump head at 21°C system temperature rise" of 2.0m, which doesn't sound like a lot compared to figures which I have seen on here. This question may have been asked in other guises before, so I apologise if I've missed the (possibly basic) information to help me. I've been looking at flow rates and pipework resistance and wondering about vertical height etc, and am now just confused.
The current system has a mixture of copper, non-barrier pipe and copper microbore, with joins buried under concrete, in crawl spaces and generally very difficult to access areas. There is an issue at the moment with pressure loss which isn't the topic of this query, but it has made me consider a full re-plumb of the central heating pipework in BPEX so that all joins are in accessible areas. The home is in a state where some work could be undertaken, but copper would be too destructive unfortunately. There are new radiators, old radiators, and some rooms have capped pipework, ready to receive new radiators once the rooms have been plastered, decorated etc.
I see that JG do a speedfit manifold with flow indicators and air vent and the potential to upgrade in future with actuators to provide fully zoned central heating. I'm an IT professional by trade and like the idea of integrating these with sensors at some point to create a 'smart' central heating system. The manifold would obviously greatly help that.
I think I have deduced a safe route to the attic, where the manifold could be located at the centre of this 'star' topology. This is approx 12m from the boiler. There's likely a route to all radiators in the home from this point, albeit obviously at quite a greater distance than the shortest possible route would have been from the boiler originally.
The affordability depends much on whether the existing boiler can cope with the extra lengths of pipework. Would someone mind helping me work this out?
I'm looking at 2 towel radiators and 10 others being part of the system, presumably using 22mm BPEX to the manifold and 15mm to the radiators. I've been guesstimating distances of around 12m (+12m) from the boiler to where the manifold would be situated, and the maximum distance to one of the rads as 15m (+15m).
How can I work out whether the pump is suitable?
Thanks in advance,
Chris
