Central heating pipes in extension roof void...

[danroach]

Hello.

Hoped to get a bit of advice if poss.

The people whom we bought our house from a couple of years ago were the worst kind of bodgers. Premier league. We have had to systematically cope with rotted joists, blown plaster-work, badly installed appliances and a list of other discrepancies as long as your arm.

The kitchen has been extended and thankfully, they got someone in to build it for them but there was never any central heating installed at the far end of the extension. The kitchen measures 2.5m x 5m.

There is a double 400 x 600mm rad situated right by the kitchen door that services the entire kitchen for heat. Needless to say that this just doesn't even come close to keeping a decent level of warmth in there (usually as most of the heat just exits the kitchen due to the rad being right by the door). We've thought about kickboard heaters but we only have units in one half of the kitchen, the half with the rad already in it.

I'd like to get our plumber to pipe the heating through the roof void of the extension and bring the pipes down at the far end of the room so I/he can install a rad to try and get a more even temp, especially in the winter.

So....I've two questions I was wondering about.

1. I'm worried about the pipes being in the roof void and freezing in the winter. Is there anything I can do to stop this?

2. Space is at a HUGE premium so we'd have to have a long thin radiator. I've seen one that is 1112 Btu/hr (326 watts) and wondered if that would be enough (in combination with the double 400 x 600) to get a more evenly distributed temp.

Thanks in advance for any advice/thoughts you can give.

D

 

[Onetap]

1. I'm worried about the pipes being in the roof void and freezing in the winter. Is there anything I can do to stop this?

Insulate them, first. Insulate them properly, so there are no bulging seams at bends, or gaps at fittings or elbows. See the installation instruction on the manufacturer's website (e.g., Armaflex). I've only seen pipe insulation fitted properly in a few houses; I owned them.

You could consider arranging the loft insulation so it goes over the pipes and they're inside the insulated envelope of the building.

Make sure there's a working frost protection system on your boiler. Most manufacturer's controls have some such option, typically the pump runs at a low outside temperature and the boiler fires to keep the circulating water warm, even if there's no heat demand.

I've got heating pipes in my loft space.

You could put anti-freeze in the system (not car anti-freeze; toxic), but it needs to be checked regularly to ensure it doesn't turn acidic. I'd avoid that, unless the property was unoccupied for long periods.

 

[Agile]

A kitchen is best heated by a plinth heater instead of rads!

So many advantages which I listed recently on another thread.

Tony

 

[mogget]

A kitchen is best heated by a plinth heater instead of rads!

One advantage of a plinth heater is that the fan mixes up the air in the room giving a more even heat. They are far better than radiators for kitchens in my experience.

 

[Agile]

I do have to say their best feature in my view is that they only need to be turned on ( or timed ) when the kitchen is being used and can be turned off immediately cooking has warmed up the room.

Tony