So far I’ve been told that my pipe work is too small and needs to be replaced which would mean hacking into some walls, taking off skirting boards, taking up carpets and floorboards. As I’ve just redecorated the whole house it’s not something I’m keen to do yet.
I’ll see how it all goes over the next couple of years and revisit it.
I’ve heard some conflicting opinions about it but, as with most things, I’ll research it until my head almost explodes before deciding.
No it’s 10ml. Apparently it won’t be effective using the smaller pipes. 🤷🏼
That doesn't make any sense. The size of pipework is not affected by heat pumps vs boilers, unless you've got a really odd system now.
The flow and return temperatures are different - boilers produce water at a high temperature. Most domestic systems are designed for around 80C flow (from the boiler) and 70 return (back to the boiler) at peak heating. Some newer systems will be designed for a 80 flow and 60 return. Heat pumps work best at lower flow and return temperatures - 45 flow and 25 or 30 return.
The size of the pipework is set by the difference in the flow and return temperatures so 10C for the traditional boiler, 20C for a modern one, 15 or 20C for a heat pump - basically all around the same. The smaller the difference, the higher the water flow rate has to be for the same amount of heating. It's very unlikely that a heat pump would need more water flowing than a boiler, so the pipes are more likely to be oversized than undersized and are probably fine.
The problem with the change in temperatures is that your radiators are possibly not big enough on the coldest days, but unless you have a strange 40 degree heating difference system or some such, the pipes are not likely to be the problem.
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“It's still magic even if you know how it's done.”
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“It's still magic even if you know how it's done.”
The flow and return temperatures are different - boilers produce water at a high temperature. Most domestic systems are designed for around 80C flow (from the boiler) and 70 return (back to the boiler) at peak heating. Some newer systems will be designed for a 80 flow and 60 return. Heat pumps work best at lower flow and return temperatures - 45 flow and 25 or 30 return.
The size of the pipework is set by the difference in the flow and return temperatures so 10C for the traditional boiler, 20C for a modern one, 15 or 20C for a heat pump - basically all around the same. The smaller the difference, the higher the water flow rate has to be for the same amount of heating. It's very unlikely that a heat pump would need more water flowing than a boiler, so the pipes are more likely to be oversized than undersized and are probably fine.
The problem with the change in temperatures is that your radiators are possibly not big enough on the coldest days, but unless you have a strange 40 degree heating difference system or some such, the pipes are not likely to be the problem.
“It's still magic even if you know how it's done.”