Where to start with installing central heating

Fix the radiators first, then pipe them back to the boiler location.

Bear in mind that you really need all joints in the pipework to be visible in order to check for leaks when firing the system up for the first time - so you want to minimise the time for which carpets and floorboards have to be up, by doing the pipes as late as possible.

Roger

In message , James W writes

Double check your plans, make sure that you know exactly where all the pipe runs will go and that they are possible. Also don't forget to establish your drain point(s)

I would put the radiators in place first and run the pipes to them

You start by doing the heat loss calculations, and deciding if you want a condesing or non-condesing boiler. Then you can choose radiators to match the heating requirements of each room. Also, look at the building regs and make sure your system is going to conform (concerns things like thermostatic radiator valves and the system control/thermostat/timer in particular).

A while back, someone here suggested hanging all the radiators as soon as you get them. That gives you a chance to decide you don't like some of the positions before you start piping anything up. If the wall behind the radiator is going to need any attention (e.g. decorating, replastering), you might want to get that out of the way first, to avoid having to remove the radiator later.

You don't need to have installed the whole system in order to start using it. I did a system with separate upstairs and down- stairs zones. The upstairs zone was installed and working a year before I got round to doing the downstairs circuit. Even then, the last downstairs radiator was only connected up well over year after that! If you know you are going to do this, you should arrange that the zones can be isolated and separately drained and flushed. (Come to think of it, I never installed the hall radiator because I never found what I wanted, a radiator which is designed to be flush mounted into a wall, or protrudes no more than half an inch, in either case using just the front face for heating output.)

Hi James,

Have a look through this site for all the plumbing and heating planning sections. It should give you more information on the major bits you need to know.

I started with a big black pen, and I went round the house drawing where the pipe would go.

Then I looked for problems, like crossing the pipes, low points, difficult joins etc, and worked out how to do the pipes better.

Rick

"Rick Dipper" wrote | I started with a big black pen, and I went round the house drawing where | the pipe would go. | Then I looked for problems, like crossing the pipes, low points, difficult | joins etc, and worked out how to do the pipes better.

Should have done it in pencil first then, and made sure you had a big rubb^Weraser.

Owain