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central heating install

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wallace

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We gave daughter grannys old place. I knew the heating was on its last legs but was hoping to get a bit more time out of it. The rads and pipes are 40 years old but it had a combi bodged on about 12years ago. It needs a total system. Daughter has no money so I'm paying. I'm seriously considering doing it myself. I'd like to do it in copper. Any heating engineers in the house with pointers? Do's Dont's
 
This is a good starting point for the first decision.

easyflow.co.uk

Unvented Cylinders vs. Vented Cylinders and Combi Boilers

You have far more options for heating the water used in your home today than ever before. Old-style vented water cylinders are still in use, of course, but they’re increasingly less popular as more and more people choose other options. Two of those are combi boilers and unvented cylinders. How…
easyflow.co.uk easyflow.co.uk

Oil or gas ? Is the place small? If so consider an external boiler.

Why do you want to do it in copper ? Hep2o type stuff is so much easier provided you don't have lots of rodents.

Are you intending to replace the existing pipework to the rads ? If so, why ? Heck of a lot of extra work there, floorboards up etc
 
Gas, place is 3 bed semi, 8 rads, existing pipes are microbore.
Radiators have never been flushed in 20years and no maintenance. A couple have rusted out so can assume the system is very sludged up.
 
Well you can hire a power-flusher.

The other thing to consider is if the rads are the right size for the rooms. I know someone who consistently under-sized the rads in every house he renovated because he was a tightwad.
 
Another vote for HepO2; brilliant stuff, especially the present generation. It's 'undoable' (with a special tool, that costs pennies) for the odd goofup. The only restriction is close to the hot water outlet from the boiler, where you must use copper.
I'd recommend you use a fitter for the boiler; they have a modern tool like a massive, cupped, soldering iron to 'sweat' joints shut. It's simply brilliant. No gas torch, no gas bottle, no scorched structural timbers, job done.
Good luck!
 
I did a complete install of a combi from scratch about 25yrs ago. (I got a Corgi to connect the gas)
I did it all in end feed soldered copper and to be honest I would happily do the same again.
But, I have used polypipe a lot to extend our current system and to plumb the kitchen. Plastic is great.... so quick and the pipes go around all kinds of awkward bends with no extra work.
Thinking about it I would consider a half way house and use polypipe with metal fittings which IS ok, I like to use the metal inserts with metal fittings.
 
SamQ aka Ah! Q! said:
Another vote for HepO2; brilliant stuff, especially the present generation. It's 'undoable' (with a special tool, that costs pennies) for the odd goofup. The only restriction is close to the hot water outlet from the boiler, where you must use copper.
I'd recommend you use a fitter for the boiler; they have a modern tool like a massive, cupped, soldering iron to 'sweat' joints shut. It's simply brilliant. No gas torch, no gas bottle, no scorched structural timbers, job done.
Good luck!
Click to expand...

I installed our CH, in fact re-plumbed the house - on copper when we moved in many moons ago. Getting someone to just do the gas work on the boiler (which you shouldn't do yourself) was tricky, and I imagine it is no easier now, so you might want to find someone who would do that, and from what starting point, before you begin.

I think plumbers these days have been drawn to press fit systems, which require an expensive tool but no skill. And is reliant on o-rings for sealing, not much better than push-fit really IMHO.
 
If you’ve no intention of going to a heat pump in forseeable future consider a plastic piped microbore system. 10mm runs to each rad, no joints in the runs a doodle to run, manifolds close to the boiler. If not then a more traditional set up but again in a plastic pipe.
Only real benefit of copper is it’s mouse/rat proof.
Some decent boiler controls, as its for family something with decent weather compensation is again worth the effort and expense, preferably with a proper outdoor temperature sensor rather than using an internet version. If you decide to go for a hot water tank rather than a combi make sure the boiler is set up to allow you to set both hot water and heating flow temps separately, some of the cheaper boilers don’t so you end up running a flow temp to suit hot water rather than the heating and lose a lot of efficiency.
Make sure you size the rads properly ( if in doubt make them bigger) that way you’ll run the boiler in condensing mode for more of its run time and over the years the extra efficiency is worth the initial outlay.
Decent magnetic filter, lime scale reducer if in a hard water area ( though whether they actually do anything is debatable). Keep on top of the inhibitor changes ( every 3 years).
If you’re actually going to get it properly service every year then go for something with a long guarantee, if not then a reasonably basic boiler ( i’m a landlord and use baxi/ main effectively same boiler different badge) i don’t get them serviced as per the book, they get the annual gas cert and a careful look over. It’s water leaks that kill boilers.
Deal with repairs as needed.
Originally i had aristons, they lasted 12-14 years by which time fixing them was to me not worth the effort and not fair on tenants if boiler got tempermental, so switched to Main/Baxi , these are now 6-8 years old. Out of the 8 of them , 2 have needed new pressure guages ( replaced under warranty) currently have 1 that has thrown a fault ( neither dhw or heating will go above 50 degrees) so this time of year not a problem. Got the plumber coming this week to test it, if it needs a new pcb and associated gubbins, boiler will get changed. Savings on servicing will more than cover it.
 
If you find a decent plumber and come to an agreement that you lift and repair floors etc not only will you do a thorough job it significantly cuts his hours and he does what he is best at.
Ditto removing the current system.
 
Blackswanwood said:
It may be worth checking if any grants are available when replacing the boiler.
Click to expand...
I checked for any grants but the only one available is eco4, which is based on the epc on the house. It doesnt matter if the boiler works or not. If the original back boiler was still in then there might of been funding.
 
wallace said:
We gave daughter grannys old place. I knew the heating was on its last legs but was hoping to get a bit more time out of it. The rads and pipes are 40 years old but it had a combi bodged on about 12years ago. It needs a total system. Daughter has no money so I'm paying. I'm seriously considering doing it myself. I'd like to do it in copper. Any heating engineers in the house with pointers? Do's Dont's
Click to expand...
You're definitely not alone—I've seen quite a few systems from that era finally give out. If you're comfortable with plumbing and have some experience, doing it yourself in copper is totally possible, just make sure you factor in the time and planning it takes to get it right. A few quick tips:

Do's:

  • Plan your pipe runs carefully—keep them neat and accessible where possible.
  • Use full-bore valves and decent quality fittings to future-proof the system.
  • Pressure test everything before firing it up.
  • Insulate all pipework properly—especially in unheated spaces.

Don'ts:

  • Don’t skimp on radiator sizing—modern heat sources run cooler than old boilers, so sizing matters more.
  • Avoid running long pipework back to a central point if you can loop it more efficiently.
  • Don’t forget the building regs if you’re replacing the boiler/system entirely.
That said, since you're paying out-of-pocket, have you looked into government grants? If you're considering future-proofing the place with something like an air source heat pump, there’s funding available that could ease the financial hit.

👉 Visit Website for info on air source heat pump grants. It could be worth checking before committing fully to a copper install.

Good luck with the project—happy to answer questions if you go ahead!
 
I've started going for an early 5am walk/jog. I go past a house and there is this very loud hum - very obtrusive TBH especially in the countryside - reckon it's a heat pump.
 
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