Polypropylene pipes for heating - reliably and efficiently

Good heating in the house is one of the main components of coziness and comfort. Modern materials are rapidly replacing heavy and short-lived steel pipes from the market, and polypropylene is considered to be one of the most popular. The question of how to choose polypropylene pipes for heating is not the only one, it is also important to correctly mount and start up the system.

How to choose the right material

The advantages of polypropylene systems are indisputable, their closest competitors PVC and polyethylene pipes do not withstand high temperatures. As for metal-plastic, the price for it is much higher, plus it can not be used everywhere.

About merits more

• According to the statements of leading manufacturers, the service life of polypropylene heating pipes, if the instruction manual is followed and the installation was done correctly, can reach half a century..
• Inside the polymer has a perfectly smooth surface. so that salt or limescale does not linger on it, to put it simply, the pipes do not overgrow.
• By experience, we can safely say that having a special electric soldering iron and scissors for cutting at our disposal, it is possible to mount the heating with polypropylene pipes with your own hands within one, maximum 2 days. Moreover, the system can be put into operation within 20 minutes after completion of the work.

• The material is quite durable, it can be mounted not only in a closed way in pipe boxes or walls, but also open, fixing it on the wall with special clips.
• This polymer has a low heat transfer coefficient., as a result, heat losses during the transportation of hot water in the system will be minimal.
• Besides the fact that a wide range of related fittings is produced for the installation of such systems, this material has a high ductility.. Using a building dryer, you can bend pipes in the right direction.
• Returning to the question, how much does heating from polypropylene pipes cost, it is safe to say that this is the most economical and profitable option in the price / quality ratio. Metal or metal-plastic will be much more expensive. And from polymers, polypropylene is the only material that can withstand pressure and temperature.

Although not everything is so smooth, in the case of high temperatures, the material has a significant coefficient of expansion. For reinforced pipes, this is not a problem, but if the system is mounted from unreinforced components, then with open wiring, the pipes should be installed with an interval of no more than 50 cm. Soft insulation is used for closed wiring. Critical rate +60? С.

A few words about labeling

Marking polypropylene pipes for heating is not very difficult, and the material is conventionally divided into 4 types. The technical characteristics of polypropylene pipes for heating are different for each type, and which type is best specifically for your system should be solved individually, because the price goes up.

Tip: Marking polypropylene pipes for heating and water supply still contains a color component. All material that is designed for hot water is marked with a red stripe, respectively, the blue stripe is applied to the pipes for cold water.

Types of fittings

All connecting elements of the system are referred to as the general term fittings. They are made of the same polypropylene as the pipes, the only exception being the fittings intended for switching to a system made of another material, as a rule, it is metal. They can be visually distinguished by the presence of a threaded connection on one side.

• Coupling fittings are designed for mounting sectors with the same pipe diameter. This is the simplest and most affordable type of construction.
• Transition fittings, as the name implies, are needed to connect products with different diameters.
• Fittings or choke fittings are used to dock a stationary system with a flexible hose.
• Cross fittings are needed for wiring or combining a multi-sector system.
• Corner fittings or turn signals are used for corner joining of pipes.
• There are still plugs that are needed to block the dead-end branches of the structure.

Heating system installation

To pick up polypropylene pipes for heating systems is only half the battle. It is equally important to correctly design the system itself and further, according to the project, to correctly mount it.

Drafting project

A good heating scheme made of polypropylene pipes is the key to durability and reliability of the whole structure. Whatever the quality pipes and fittings to them, if it is not correct to draw up a project and, accordingly, to mount the system, then it will not last long and will not work very well.

To draw up a competent project, certain professional knowledge is required, and if you make the constructions with your own hands, if you really want, even an amateur can do it, here we advise you to invite a professional.

In particular, the following data should be considered.

• The temperature in the house directly depends on the number of installed radiators, but each boiler is also designed for a certain power. Therefore, a large number of heating points does not guarantee an increase in heat transfer, parity must be observed.
• Structures must be laid at the right angle, this is especially important for gravity-flow systems. Systems with forced circulation at non-observance of the angle of inclination will work, but in overload mode.
• Again, it is important what water temperature and pressure the heater will give out. This must be considered when selecting the brand of pipe. Theoretically, you can buy a reinforced PN-25 and forget, but why do you need unreasonable expenses.
• In addition, heating systems are available from the top and from the bottom of the coolant flow. The pipes are used the same, but the design is designed differently, so it’s better to pay a professional once for a project than to redo everything again.
• The project should also indicate what sizes of polypropylene pipes for heating it is recommended to install. But from experience it is known that a cross section of 20, a maximum of 25 mm, will be more than enough.

Tip: drafting a project is better to entrust not just a neighbor who is well versed in such matters, but a legally authorized structure. A specialized organization will give you not only a competent, but equally important, an appropriately certified project that will protect you from the claims of the inspection structures.

A few installation tips

Actually the installation of the system does not cause much difficulty, even among fans. It is important to buy high-quality pipes and accessories to them. It is equally important to use a professional installation tool, it is not much, but installation is impossible without it.

The first and most important tool for installation is a soldering iron. It is a specialized fixture working from the power grid and equipped with a number of nozzles for soldering pipes.

Tip: large retail chains, subject to the purchase of material from them sometimes provide the service of renting a soldering iron. In any case, it will be cheaper than buying a new tool, which can no longer be useful in the future.

Another tool are scissors for cutting plastic pipes. Sometimes among lovers the question arises whether it is possible to use a hacksaw instead of scissors.

It is theoretically possible, but the cut will not be even, it will be necessary to chamfer and bring the cut to the ideal with files, which will be long, problematic and not always effective. In this case, the probability is high, to get poor-quality soldering.

The soldering technique is simple:

• The soldering iron is heated to the desired temperature automatically, as indicated by the sensors.
• Pre-installed on it the necessary nozzles.
• After warming up, a fitting and a pipe are put on the corresponding nozzles at the same time, having endured a certain time, the heated parts are removed from the soldering iron and are joined to the stop against each other.
• After joining, the joint is held stationary for several seconds. The heating time of the joint is determined individually for each type and section of the pipe according to the table that comes with the soldering iron.

Tip: experts collect the entire structure by sector. The soldering iron is fixed and soldered each sector separately. Then the whole structure is joined at the nodal points.

The video in this article shows the installation of pipes.

Conclusion

Polypropylene pipes for heating systems, at the moment are the most profitable solution. Apart from the fact that the price of the material itself is much lower than that of competitors, such structures can still be mounted independently and with decent quality.