improving central heating

manus30

hello there,
recently changed central heating from oil to gas. the boiler house for the oil was outside at the back corner of the house. the new gas boiler is now inside the house.
I recently noticed that the pipes that went to the oil burner outside were just blanked off. these pipes run from the boiler house accross the garden along the entire length of the house in into the house through the opposite back corner. this is hardly efficient is it? would i be wasting heat through all that pipework? i was thinking of just blanking these pipes where they enter the house and using these pipes to drain down the system, as there is no where else to drain it down. would this increase efficency?
any advice greatly appreciated, thanks in advance.

Carlow52

Unless there is a circuit to/from the garden shed then there wont be any real heat loss as water is a bad conductor of heat.

However it would be a good idea to do what you suggest.

In passing was the old system there long?

did the plumber flush out the system and put fresh inhibitor in the circuit

In truth he should have blanked them off in the house

Stratocaster

manus30 wrote: »

hello there,
recently changed central heating from oil to gas. the boiler house for the oil was outside at the back corner of the house. the new gas boiler is now inside the house.
I recently noticed that the pipes that went to the oil burner outside were just blanked off. these pipes run from the boiler house accross the garden along the entire length of the house in into the house through the opposite back corner. this is hardly efficient is it? would i be wasting heat through all that pipework? i was thinking of just blanking these pipes where they enter the house and using these pipes to drain down the system, as there is no where else to drain it down. would this increase efficency?
any advice greatly appreciated, thanks in advance.

I am a bit confused with all that, you might have to come back with clearer info.

If the old oil boilers flow and return went from the shed to the house, through the earth or along a wall, the branches for the rads might not start until the flow and return enter the house.

If this is the case there is no need for the old boiler and flows, the plumber should have disconnected them from the system completely. There may be a reason as to why these exposed runs are still connected to the heating thats why I would require more clear info.

You make a mention of using a drain for the system, thats a great idea and I wish more people would install a drain at the lowest point, preferably off the pipe work and not the boiler. Having a drain is good for obvious reasons but its a great place to introduce inhibitors etc. If systems were installed with drains more people would have the ability to maintain the system.

manus30

Stratocaster wrote: »

I am a bit confused with all that, you might have to come back with clearer info.

If the old oil boilers flow and return went from the shed to the house, through the earth or along a wall, the branches for the rads might not start until the flow and return enter the house.

If this is the case there is no need for the old boiler and flows, the plumber should have disconnected them from the system completely. There may be a reason as to why these exposed runs are still connected to the heating thats why I would require more clear info.

You make a mention of using a drain for the system, thats a great idea and I wish more people would install a drain at the lowest point, preferably off the pipe work and not the boiler. Having a drain is good for obvious reasons but its a great place to introduce inhibitors etc. If systems were installed with drains more people would have the ability to maintain the system.

yes you are right, the branches dont start until inside the house. i cant see any reason for having these two pipes exposed outside. would this be bad workmanship? if so i might go back to the installer and have a few words about correcting this..

Stratocaster

manus30 wrote: »

yes you are right, the branches dont start until inside the house. i cant see any reason for having these two pipes exposed outside. would this be bad workmanship? if so i might go back to the installer and have a few words about correcting this..

Its hard to tell without being there, might be something still connected. Maybe the plumber has disconnected them but couldn't remove them, might be part of the house if you know what I mean, wall has been plastered up to them, lots of brackets, paint over them, plants etc. Might have looked bad if they had been removed.

I would ring him up and ask, 1 are they still connected, 2 why are they still connected.

I take it that everything is now inside the house, gas boiler, vessels, pumps etc. If the shed has been cleared out with no traces of the above its definitely worth a phone call to find out why the pipes from the old boiler are still outside.

If you find out the pipes are outside with no purpose just be nice and say your looking to get outside tidy, whats the story with these pipes etc can you come back. If you sound any way aggressive he might not come back, he's been paid.

Always a reason.

manus30

Stratocaster wrote: »

Its hard to tell without being there, might be something still connected. Maybe the plumber has disconnected them but couldn't remove them, might be part of the house if you know what I mean, wall has been plastered up to them, lots of brackets, paint over them, plants etc. Might have looked bad if they had been removed.

I would ring him up and ask, 1 are they still connected, 2 why are they still connected.

I take it that everything is now inside the house, gas boiler, vessels, pumps etc. If the shed has been cleared out with no traces of the above its definitely worth a phone call to find out why the pipes from the old boiler are still outside.

If you find out the pipes are outside with no purpose just be nice and say your looking to get outside tidy, whats the story with these pipes etc can you come back. If you sound any way aggressive he might not come back, he's been paid.

Always a reason.

sorry for not explaining properly. the pipes i am talking about are still connected to the system and have water in them, they are just removed from the old oil boiler outside and blanked off. these pipes run from the old boiler house under the garden and along the entire length of the house, approx 58feet. then the enter the house if you know what i mean.
I know that becasue these pipes are blanked off, they are acting as a dead leg and are probably losing loadsd of heat due to the long run of pipework?

Stratocaster

manus30 wrote: »

sorry for not explaining properly. the pipes i am talking about are still connected to the system and have water in them, they are just removed from the old oil boiler outside and blanked off. these pipes run from the old boiler house under the garden and along the entire length of the house, approx 58feet. then the enter the house if you know what i mean.
I know that becasue these pipes are blanked off, they are acting as a dead leg and are probably losing loadsd of heat due to the long run of pipework?

That sounds strange to me, might have been handy for the plumber to cap off the pipes at the old boiler and tee into the flow and return pipes located in the house, then raised them up into the new gas boiler, hes left most as is, just teed into the existing heating pipes leaving the dead legs on the other side of the tees.

I wouldn't do that, while I was cutting into the pipe I would leave the old boiler side disconnected. I could only make this connection before any of the branches to the rads if you understand?

He might have not been able to locate the new boiler connection before the branches. Lets say the old boiler pipe work enters the house, a few rad branches are made, then the new tees are cut in for the boiler. That is the only way it makes sense to me, by having the pipes capped off where the old boiler used to be.

Dead legs do have an impact on the heating, its hard to tell how much of an impact it has, it depends on where it is and how much of a leg.

You might have to take some time to figure out were the new tees are connected to the flow and return under the floor, if you can find them have a look and see what rooms are before the tees to determine where to lift the floor and kill off the legs properly.

Bit of a mouth full up there so its best to read over it a few times.

manus30

thanks a mill for advice. to be honest, i dont know what way he managed to connect in the new boiler. the new gas boiler is at the opposite end of the house to where the old pipework comes in from outside.
im usually not afraid to tackle jobs like this, but it seems a bit complicated...