external gas pipes

[buddyboy]

Hi guys.hope somebody can help me here.need to upgrade my gas supply pipe to boiler to 22/20mm only 15mm at present,but was hoping to run it externally rather than follow the old route under floor boards and up through a wall and over attic floor ! What sort of pipe can I use ?External distance is about 25 m. I'm not going to fit it myself due to gas regs,but need to make sure before I get someone in to do it.Any advice much appreciated.Thanks

 

[Dopeydaz]

I'd use steel pipe externally, saves someone stealing your 25m of copper.

 

[HERTS P&D]

Or use copper and paint it with 'anti climb paint' or cover with 'denso tape'.

Andy

 

[Dopeydaz]

My company done a job recently where thieves had cut the copper coming out of the gas meter and yanked it out of the first floor flat without turning the gas off! 3 flats in a row.

 

[gaswizzard]

What boiler is it? 25m of 22mm?

 

[buddyboy]

Thanks for the info guys. Reason for 25m of pipework is the distance from meter to boiler. At present gas pressure at boiler is only 4 milibar under load. apparentley not good,so upgrade needed. Being a bungalow after a 8' vertical run most of the pipework will be hidden and secured to the eaves etc until we drop down to the input at the boiler. Is steel pipe any better and safer than copper ? cost is not really the issue and disguising the pipe again is no problem. Thanks again. Glad to have found such a great site full of usefull info from sensible people.

 

[landyandy]

Has the calculation been made to establish the correct size pipe for your 25m run. 22mm seems small for this run but I dont know the Kw input for the boiler or the number of bends in the pipework or other appliances it serves.

For example a large ish boiler With other appliances will probably need some part of the pipework bigger than 22mm even if it is close to the meter.
Andy.

 

[buddyboy]

not sure of kw input, but existing copper pipe has a run of appx 30m using its existing route and that is 15mm copper with about 4 x 90' bends in it. it does have 22mm to 15 step down at meter.the only other supply reqd is the cooker.Last time we had the boiler serviced the guy said we needed to do this.And said that due to distance involved it had to be at least 22mm but if more than 4 bends then the 1st part should be bigger.Would that be 28mm or 25mm and does that come in steel ? He did say his company would charge about £1000. Have priced copper pipe etc and local labour (corgi registered) for a lot less. Not priced steel pipe,due to unsure of suppliers yet. New 25m run will have 5 x 90' bends in it

 

[imroberts]

£1000 sounds a lot for just swapping the pipe.

You can buy 30m of 22mm for about £150 ... allow a few hundred for labour and I'd hope it would come in at less than £500

That aside though, if you're looking at paying this sum of money having the gas pipe re-routed, consider that 30m of 28mm pipe is only about £50 more than 30m of 22mm and I would personally be looking at having the whole route done in something bigger

 

[Dopeydaz]

What other gas appliances are in the house? And where do they T off from the main run?

What make and model is the boiler? I could do the pipe sizing calcs for you if you want, tell you what you need?

I could also give you a quote for the work if you want?

Darren

 

[peekay53]

nice one darren never miss a chance hey mate and nothing dopey about you mate you were right on that one no prob

 

[Dopeydaz]

nice one darren never miss a chance hey mate and nothing dopey about you mate you were right on that one no prob

Well you don't ask you don't get!

To be honest, he is maybe a bit far from me but if I can save him some money and make me some then happy days.

My offer of pipe sizing is absolutely free of charge and no obligation, gives me the practice at the calcs!

 

[peekay53]

hey darren god loves a trier so i wont knock it mate and hope he takes you up on your generous offer

peekay53

we all make mistakes thats why they put rubbers on pencils

 

[buddyboy]

What other gas appliances are in the house? And where do they T off from the main run?

What make and model is the boiler? I could do the pipe sizing calcs for you if you want, tell you what you need?

I could also give you a quote for the work if you want?

Darren

Hi there. boiler make is Unica 28 HE, only other appliance is cooker. they T off just to the rear of the cooker near the bayonet fitting. Gas meter is fitted in living room in cupboard so quite happy to drill through outside wall and assist with work. Using the outside route would need 6 x 90' bends. It has been suggested that I lift living room flooring and channel out part of a concrete floor to shorten the run of pipework to the outside. If that is allowed. What pipe do I have to use and deep must it be ? It would probably reduce the amount of piping by 1/3 and only require 4x 90' bends. Again quite happy to do all the prep work ie lifting flooring and chanelling out/drilling.Just need someone to do the Corgi part of things !
If you want to give me a quote please do. I can supply all materials so it's labour only. cheers

 

[Mark Br]

"4 mbar under load" - I've no doubt that you need to upgrade your supply if it's only 15mm, however I'd also be getting your installer to check the governor is working correctly if you are only getting 4 mbar at the boiler.