RE: [OT] well, sort of. Central heating radiator plumbing

["Neil Ball" <neilball@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

HI Ian



There are lots of ways that radiators can be plumbed but the most common
these days is a 2 pipe system (1 pipe for flow from the boiler, 1 pipe for
return back to the boiler) where each radiator tees off the main flow &
return. This normally means you can isolate any radiator in the system
without stopping the flow of water to any others. You can easily check this
by shutting off a radiator or two in your system and ensuring that the
others still work. You'll find a schematic of such a system at:

http://www.plumbingpages.com/featurepages/HeatingandcontrolsHomeIntro.cfm

http://tinyurl.com/fd2d6

Note the automatic bypass valve, this will be vital if you are controlling
all radiators in your system to provide the boiler with its minimum flow
requirement and to limit the pressure in the pipework with all radiators
closed.



The site has some good advice on general plumbing issues so worth a look
around.



HTH



Neil B.

_____

From: ukha_d@xxxxxxx [mailto:ukha_d@xxxxxxx] On Behalf Of
ian.bird@xxxxxxx
Sent: 26 June 2006 12:43
To: ukha_d@xxxxxxx
Subject: [ukha_d] [OT] well, sort of. Central heating radiator plumbing



Hi all

I cannot find after a while Googling how central heating radiators are
typically plumbed in. I have a conventional heating system i.e. fully
pumped but not pressurised and I want to know how the radiators are
plumbed back to the pump.

I am trying to control my heating with much better accuracy, flexibility
and complexity (it is HA after all). To this end I need to know what will
happen if I turn off radiators seemingly randomly around the house
depending on individual room conditions. I am assuming at this point that
none of the radiators are plumbed from one into another otherwise when one
turns off then the water won't get to the next!!

Does a typical system have a manifold with individual feeds to each
radiator so turning one or more off won't have a dramatic affect on
others?

Any help with web links or other advice most welcome.

Thanks

Ian_,___



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