Corrosion in piping.

Usernemises

Hi, wondering if someone with a bit of knowledge could assist me please. I have recently gone sale agreed on a 3 bed semi, the surveyor was in touch with me and he hasnt issued his full report yet. He states that the house is approximatley 40yrs old. The piping in it is the old "gun barrell" piping and that this is starting to corrode on the inside, it has a new boiler fitted that works off the gas but i was told that this piping will need to be replaced. What sort of money am I looking at to replace the piping on a 3 bed semi with a downstairs guest bathroom. There is one bathroom upstairs with a shower and one downstairs toilet and sink. Any info would be great.

Dtp1979

Usernemises wrote: »

Hi, wondering if someone with a bit of knowledge could assist me please. I have recently gone sale agreed on a 3 bed semi, the surveyor was in touch with me and he hasnt issued his full report yet. He states that the house is approximatley 40yrs old. The piping in it is the old "gun barrell" piping and that this is starting to corrode on the inside, it has a new boiler fitted that works off the gas but i was told that this piping will need to be replaced. What sort of money am I looking at to replace the piping on a 3 bed semi with a downstairs guest bathroom. There is one bathroom upstairs with a shower and one downstairs toilet and sink. Any info would be great.

Are you talking about replacing the entire heating system excluding the boiler? And do u want re piping of bathrooms too?

Usernemises

Im not sure what exactly is required. The boiler doesnt need replacing as its new enough so im guessing that it would be all the gun barrell piping in the house and maybe the rads while im at it. I was hoping to put an extension on in about 4/5 years so i could get it all done then in one go if it holds out. Im just wondering that if I had to sort it prior to that what ballpark figure im looking at.

Dtp1979

Usernemises wrote: »

Im not sure what exactly is required. The boiler doesnt need replacing as its new enough so im guessing that it would be all the gun barrell piping in the house and maybe the rads while im at it. I was hoping to put an extension on in about 4/5 years so i could get it all done then in one go if it holds out. Im just wondering that if I had to sort it prior to that what ballpark figure im looking at.

You'd be looking at 6-8k I'd say. But there are a lot of factors that could change that figure

K.Flyer

If you have a brand new gas boiler and rotting gun barrel pipework, I hope they fitted a magnetic cleaner when it was installed.
If not, you may be pricing for a new boiler, or at the least, a new heat exchanger and pump as well.

Sleeper12

Usernemises wrote: »

Im not sure what exactly is required. The boiler doesnt need replacing as its new enough so im guessing that it would be all the gun barrell piping in the house and maybe the rads while im at it. I was hoping to put an extension on in about 4/5 years so i could get it all done then in one go if it holds out. Im just wondering that if I had to sort it prior to that what ballpark figure im looking at.

If it were my home I'd try push for the new rads now too. They will save you money on your heating. My main reason for not waiting for the extension is timescales for extensions get pushed back. If money runs short during the extension its something like the rads will get knocked back. If you haven't got the cash for the rads now well that's your decision made for you:)

Wearb

Sleeper12 wrote: »

If it were my home I'd try push for the new rads now too. They will save you money on your heating.

I don't follow your thinking on new rads saving money Sleeper.

Sleeper12

Wearb wrote:

I don't follow your thinking on new rads saving money Sleeper.

OP s house is built 40 years ago. I'm assuming he has 40 year old rads. I haven't done heating in a long, long time so I'm out of the loop. But my understanding is Modern convector rads would cost around a third less to heat than 40 year old rads. Can't say it's gospel so happy to be corrected on this.

Wearb

They all cost the same to run, relative to their output. A 2kw rad will cost 2kw worth of energy to heat no matter what age/type. If a rad is clogged up and can only output 1kw then it will only take 1kw to heat that rad.

Newer rads are more efficient in that they can output more energy than an older one of the same size. However a 2kw output rad will cost 2kw of energy to heat regardless of its size.

Hope I explained it properly Sleeper

Sleeper12

Won't op be getting smaller rads, holding less water but putting out the same amount of heat?

Wearb

Sleeper12 wrote: »

Won't op be getting smaller rads, holding less water but putting out the same amount of heat?

Yes but in order for them to put out the same amount of heat, the boiler will be outputting the same energy as before. The newer rads will be cooling faster than the older ones and the boiler will have to work just as hard to keep up the temperature.

Perhaps an easier way to visualise it is to compare an old 2 bar electric heater (2kw) to a 2 kw all dancing heater such as a Faro. They will both cost the same to bring a room up to temperature.
The difference will be that the modern one will shut down when set temperature is reached. But then we would be talking controls and not cost of energy output. We could easily wire the 2 bar heater through a room stat to give us the same control.
Maybe someone will jump in here and explain it better.

K.Flyer

Newer smaller radiators have less water volume per radiator, so less water to heat, means that the radiators and boiler, if well balanced, reach optimum temperature quicker with less running time on the boiler.
Kw/hr requirements are still the same. Savings are on the quicker heat up time and running, as there is less steel panelling and water cooling down during cycles.

Sleeper12

So I was half right. I'll take that.

Wearb

Sleeper12 wrote: »

So I was half right. I'll take that.

More like 1/100th right, but I didn't want to split hairs. My explanation is correct even if I didn't explain it very well.