Radiator upgrade on 10mm pipework

[chazvr]

Looking to upgrade a couple of rads in my house but wanted to get some advice on suitability.

I have a glowworm bg330 31 kw conventional boiler which currently feeds 10 type 11 radiators 5 up 5 down. The upstairs is run in 15mm pipework and the downstairs in 10mm.

I'm looking to upgrade the 2 in the living room and downstairs hallway as they don't seem up to the job of heating those spaces. The existing system and rads went in when the house was built 30 odd years ago and the system works fine but doesn't heat those areas very well.

I've done a BTU calculation for the rooms in question and doing like for like replacements for rad size seems like a good option if I go type 22.

I think the boiler has head room to support the upgrades but was concerned about the 10mm pipework downstairs.

Does this look like a viable option without running new pipework to the 3 rads I want to replace and keeping the same boiler?

Thanks 😊

 

[Last Plumber]

10mm copper or plastic?
What output rads are you thinking?
You are limited by bore and therefore volume of water. Plastic is worse than copper due to smaller bore.

 

[chazvr]

Thanks for the reply. Copper pipes all round.

10mm copper or plastic?

What output rads are you thinking?

You are limited by bore and therefore volume of water. Plastic is worse than copper due to smaller bore.


Thanks for the reply. 10mm copper all round.

Rads are 600x1400 - 8165 btu

900x500 - 5249 btu

700x500- 3221 btu.

Like I said they are like for like in dimensions but going from type 11 to type 22. It doesn't help I've got a conservatory door and French doors in each room and the kitchen is large format tiles and aren't heated underfloor so the downstairs isn't the best at retaining the warmth.

Just out of interest what's the comparison on a 25/30 year old type 11 rad vs one in today's money? Have they come a long way since? The other option is to go type 21 but wanted to make the most out of upgrading them if possible.

Thanks

 

[Last Plumber]

Thanks for the reply. Copper pipes all round.

10mm copper or plastic?

What output rads are you thinking?

You are limited by bore and therefore volume of water. Plastic is worse than copper due to smaller bore.


Thanks for the reply. 10mm copper all round.

Rads are 600x1400 - 8165 btu

900x500 - 5249 btu

700x500- 3221 btu.

Like I said they are like for like in dimensions but going from type 11 to type 22. It doesn't help I've got a conservatory door and French doors in each room and the kitchen is large format tiles and aren't heated underfloor so the downstairs isn't the best at retaining the warmth.

Just out of interest what's the comparison on a 25/30 year old type 11 rad vs one in today's money? Have they come a long way since? The other option is to go type 21 but wanted to make the most out of upgrading them if possible.

Thanks

Not much difference in rads output in my opinion. Age may mean a build up of magnetite that can reduce performance.

I wouldn't go above 10,000 Btu/hr on 10mm copper but that is just my own rule of thumb from my own experience.

 

[chazvr]

Not much difference in rads output in my opinion. Age may mean a build up of magnetite that can reduce performance.

I wouldn't go above 10,000 Btu/hr on 10mm copper but that is just my own rule of thumb from my own experience.

Ok, so on paper looks like a feasible upgrade? Will be getting my heating engineer to do the work but wanted a second opinion before I approached him with a daft proposal. Luckily the pipe work is surface mount under covers so to modify it to account for the extra stand off shouldn't be a massive hardship for him. No lifting any flooring anyway.