do I need to insulate pipes in hot press?

starstreamer8

There are 4 pipes going from my hot press into the attic. The mains inlet, hot from top of immersion cylinder (overflow to attic tank) and hot from boiler (that goes into coil and heats the cylinder) and then goes to the f and e tank.

The press gets pretty hot and I noticed there was a lot on condensation happening on the mains pipe (I presume temperature diff between the water in mains and the hot press must be very big) so do you think I should insulate some or even all of the pipes?

dathi

starstreamer8 wrote: »

There are 4 pipes going from my hot press into the attic. The mains inlet, hot from top of immersion cylinder (overflow to attic tank) and hot from boiler (that goes into coil and heats the cylinder) and then goes to the f and e tank.
so do you think I should insulate some or even all of the pipes?

taken from part L of the building regulations technical guidance
1.4.4.4 The hot pipes connected to hot water
storage vessels, including the vent pipe and
the primary flow and return to the heat
exchanger, where fitted, should be insulated,
to the standard outlined in paragraph 1.4.4.3
above, for at least one metre from their point
of connection

Cerco

dathi wrote: »

taken from part L of the building regulations technical guidance
1.4.4.4 The hot pipes connected to hot water
storage vessels, including the vent pipe and
the primary flow and return to the heat
exchanger, where fitted, should be insulated,
to the standard outlined in paragraph 1.4.4.3
above, for at least one metre from their point
of connection

If you have an insulated cylinder and you insulate the pipes then what heats the press to make it a "hotpress"?
Just wondering if heat leakage would be sufficient?

TPM

if you want a "hot press" you put a small rad in it, having your hot water system and storage inefficient in order to have a hot press isnt really cost effective.
the thing with heat is that you only want it doing what it is designed and suppose to do anything else is inefficient

Sleeper12

dathi wrote:

taken from part L of the building regulations technical guidance 1.4.4.4 The hot pipes connected to hot water storage vessels, including the vent pipe and the primary flow and return to the heat exchanger, where fitted, should be insulated, to the standard outlined in paragraph 1.4.4.3 above, for at least one metre from their point of connection

I don't doubt your post but I can't recall ever seeing lagged pipes in a hot press. Even the newer homes I'm in don't have lagged pipes as best I can remember.
Am I remembering wrong or is this a reg that's rarely followed?

whizbang

I insulated everything in my hotpress, and double insulation on the tank, over a year ago.
The only noticeable difference is the how the tank of water lasts longer.
in general, all radiators are a little hotter, and the whole house heats slightly quicker.

But i have also sealed all 6 pipe holes up into the attic, and added a 50mm sheet of insulation to the ceiling.

Therefore there is enough loss even in well insulated plumbing.

I find it amazing how much heat loss goes through the ceiling of an average hotpress.

starstreamer8

Thanks for all the replies. To be honest I don't really need or want my hot press to be hot! So will go ahead and insulate the hot pipes. I was more worried about the amount of condensation on the mains going to the attic tank. It was very wet so do you think there is a way to reduce that? Insulate it?

Stravos Murphy

Part L will have us lagging the shower flexi hose in another year.

whizbang

Insulating the cold supply can bring some other problems..

Any Water vapour that gets inside the insulation will condense on the pipe and remain there forever, until it builds up enough to flow out somewhere..
So it has to be completely sealed end to end, or maybe; to use a larger diameter insulation, sealed along its length, but with allowance for ventilation airflow inside the insulation, and some way to deal with the condensate dripping out the bottom.

dathi

Sleeper12 wrote: »

I don't doubt your post but I can't recall ever seeing lagged pipes in a hot press. Even the newer homes I'm in don't have lagged pipes as best I can remember.
Am I remembering wrong or is this a reg that's rarely followed?

thats the problem in ireland we have a whole raft of building regulations that are not implemented by builders who attitude is "sure we have been doing it this way for years" and then people wonder why we get cases like https://www.rte.ie/news/2017/0124/847298-beacon-south-quarter/

dathi

whizbang wrote: »

, but with allowance for ventilation airflow inside the insulation, and some way to deal with the condensate dripping out the bottom.

if you allow air to flow inside the insulation it defeats the purpose of the insulation as the air will remove the heat from the pipe its called thermal looping

Dtp1979

If you insulate the mains then that will stop the hot air getting to the colder mains pipe therefore stopping condensation.
It'd be no harm to buy some good 19mm wall lagging and do all the pipes leaving the cylinder

PMBC

Cerco wrote: »

If you have an insulated cylinder and you insulate the pipes then what heats the press to make it a "hotpress"?
Just wondering if heat leakage would be sufficient?

Was that the same in the 'original' regs i.e.1992?

Dtp1979

PMBC wrote: »

Was that the same in the 'original' regs i.e.1992?

Unlikely seeing as insulated cylinders were rare enough back then