Central heating-concrete floors

[R D S]

Hi,

When putting CH into a house with concrete floors what is the best way to go about it.

Run the pipes along the skirting? Microbore in conduit?

What do people tend to do.

TIA, Rick

[Lobster]

It's really just about cost/convenience of fitting versus appearance of the final installation.

I would think the money-no-object route would be to run pipes below ground floor level, in slots in the floor covered with a removable lid for servicing purposes - but terrible job if not done at the same time as laying the new floor.

I'd probably go for installing all the pipework below the floor upstairs, and drop conduit-concealed microbore tubing down to each ground floor radiator. Doesn't look too bad if you're careful where you position the drops - eg in a corner, behind a full-length curtain etc.

David

[Stuart Noble]

There used to be hollow plastic skirtings. Pretty convincing once painted, so convincing I screwed a phone socket to one and blew a fuse

[The Natural Philosopher]

Underfloor plastic heating pipe in the concrete :-)

Otherwise suit yourself. Its unwise to lay copper actually IN the screed at lest without it being in a insulating and expanddable foam sleeve

Running pipes in an uninsulated floor - even in a conduit - wastes heat..but looks neater.

Your choice mate.

[acrabat]

Hi I dont know what most people do but my brother and I just installed a complete system in his new house ( well, new to him anyway). We used copper for 1m from the boiler then switched to polyplumb 15mm, ran it upstairs, dropped it down behind the location of each rad in raggles we chassed into the walls (we ran the pipe in flexible plastic conduit so it can always be easily replaced, i think hepworth call it 'pipe in pipe'). The system works great and without naff conduit showing. The big big downside is the amount of dust that raggling a 1,1/2" chase into the walls creates. In his case it was acceptable since the house was gutted and he wasnt living in it yet. Oh and make sure you fit a drain c*ck valve to each rad that is dropped down.