Change of flow direction OK?

[Paulioliolio]

Hi all

I'm about to have a replacement boiler fitted and the one I'm going with has the flow & return pipes on opposite sides to the old one.

The old one was for a gravity fed system, with 8 radiators all fed from lower left & right, none of which currently have TRVs on. The new boiler's a combi.

My question is, does it matter if the flow in the new set up is opposite to what it was?

Many thanks.

 

[ShaunCorbs]

yes it matters but your gas safe engy who is fitting the boiler should know this, if not i would be worried

or are you on about position of the old connections to the boiler?

 

[rpm]

yes it matters but your gas safe engy who is fitting the boiler should know this, if not i would be worried

or are you on about position of the old connections to the boiler?

What!!!

 

[ShaunCorbs]

What!!!

took the title as flow and return reverse connection as it matters which way the flow and return is connected,

but then had a second thought if he meant where the flow and return were located on the old boiler vs the new boiler

sorry for any confusion

 

[king of pipes]

Yes bud it does matter alot of boiler manufactures do spacers now so you can run pipework behind the boiler so its less visable but certainly dont cross flow and returns

 

[deg]

Why would it matter. No trvs or motorised valves.

 

[ShaunCorbs]

Why would it matter. No trvs or motorised valves.

as it will have these (needs to be brought upto current regs also building regs)

Edited (Combi System)

 

[deg]

Combi boiler being fitted and most trvs are bi directional now anyway.

 

[ShaunCorbs]

Combi boiler being fitted and most trvs are bi directional now anyway.

any rads with a pipe / connection at the top of the rad?

 

[Paulioliolio]

any rads with a pipe / connection at the top of the rad?

Nope.

Thanks for all the answers folks.

The only reason I do know which is which is that after scraping through the rust down to shiny metal around the heating connections on the old boiler I could definitely see an F in front of one of them. If you squint a lot & use your imagination you can sort of see an R in front of the other one.

No non return valves, all pipes at bottom of rads. When tanks & pump are removed it'll essentially be just two pipes with rads piped across them.
Very basic valves on rads at the moment - Looking at them there's no way to tell which way the flow goes at the moment.
I can't see that it'd matter which way the water flows through them, but thought it'd be better to ask just in case.

The heating pipes come down through the ceiling above where the boiler sits.
The one that was connected to 'F' on the old boiler is on the right. On the new boiler 'F' is on the left.
I could swap them around by lifting a bit of floor above, but I'd like to save cutting a trap in the floor & doing a load of work if there's no need to.

 

[ShaunCorbs]

Nope.

Thanks for all the answers folks.

The only reason I do know which is which is that after scraping through the rust down to shiny metal around the heating connections on the old boiler I could definitely see an F in front of one of them. If you squint a lot & use your imagination you can sort of see an R in front of the other one.

No non return valves, all pipes at bottom of rads. When tanks & pump are removed it'll essentially be just two pipes with rads piped across them.
Very basic valves on rads at the moment - Looking at them there's no way to tell which way the flow goes at the moment.
I can't see that it'd matter which way the water flows through them, but thought it'd be better to ask just in case.

The heating pipes come down through the ceiling above where the boiler sits.
The one that was connected to 'F' on the old boiler is on the right. On the new boiler 'F' is on the left.
I could swap them around by lifting a bit of floor above, but I'd like to save cutting a trap in the floor & doing a load of work if there's no need to.

Fyi to mount a boiler to a wall you need to be gas safe registered and qualified also get him to flush the system as well

Also fit a magnetic cleaner to the return

In that case no it wouldn't matter but would I'd keep the flow flow and return return

 

[ralphg]

Nope.

Thanks for all the answers folks.

The only reason I do know which is which is that after scraping through the rust down to shiny metal around the heating connections on the old boiler I could definitely see an F in front of one of them. If you squint a lot & use your imagination you can sort of see an R in front of the other one.

No non return valves, all pipes at bottom of rads. When tanks & pump are removed it'll essentially be just two pipes with rads piped across them.
Very basic valves on rads at the moment - Looking at them there's no way to tell which way the flow goes at the moment.
I can't see that it'd matter which way the water flows through them, but thought it'd be better to ask just in case.

The heating pipes come down through the ceiling above where the boiler sits.
The one that was connected to 'F' on the old boiler is on the right. On the new boiler 'F' is on the left.
I could swap them around by lifting a bit of floor above, but I'd like to save cutting a trap in the floor & doing a load of work if there's no need to.

Really you guys! he's talking about the direction of flow through what will become a sealed system. With no existing trvs and zone valves etc it makes absolutely no difference which way they connect to the new boiler! The only thing to look out for is if there is a hidden check valve in the existing pipework. (Often fitted to this kind of system to prevent gravity flow through the heating)

 

[Paulioliolio]

Thanks again people.

I won't be fitting the boiler to the wall, I'm just getting what I can of the pipework done and the new hole for the flue cut before calling an engineer in.
I want the pipes around the boiler done a certain way to minimise what's showing, and whoever fits it would either tell me to bugger off or charge a fortune (quite rightly).
I've got about 30 years of experience working with plumbing so I'm perfectly happy & comfortable doing the pipework, but it's never been my job.

If there is a check valve hiding in a wall or the floor void I guess I'll just have to do that extra bit of work. That'd be a bit of a daft place to put one though, if there is one I'd expect it to be in the open somewhere.
I think I'll give it a go the way round that it is.

Just for info, this is what's going in:
Boiler
Controller
Thermostat (with internet bridge)
And as I can afford them, STRVs


Again, thanks for the thoughts & opinions

 

[ShaunCorbs]

before you cut the hole check with the person whos fitting the boiler its in the right place and is compliant with the latest regs

 

[Paulioliolio]

before you cut the hole check with the person whos fitting the boiler its in the right place and is compliant with the latest regs

Hi Shaun.

I'm using the template that came with the boiler for the location, using a hole cutter of the recommended diameter (5"), and from the information that was provided with the boiler, and what I've read elsewhere, with a wall thickness of 300mm and the extra bit that sticks out either side, the flue length is way under the 600mm point at which the gradient is required. It's also well over the minimum distance from openings.
If it turns out for some reason that a gradient is required there'll be such a big gap around the flue that it'd be easy to achieve over that length.

 

[kris]

I know youve said your not fitting the boiler , but with what youve said asking about the pipes and the fact your boring holes using templates means youve already opened and bought your boiler and to me sounds like your fitting it or else youd just ask your engineer these questions,
Please be aware that it is highly ILLEGAL for an unregistered person to fit a gas boiler, also before choosing boilers it MUST be checked that the gas feed is of appropriate size and length as newer boiler have a larger gas consumption so quite alot of times we need to increase gas pipe sizes to comply with MI,
Most older floor standing boilers worked off of a 15mm gas pipe but nearly all combis require 22mm gas pipe as 15mm supply will only give you poor combustion and a short life expectency of a healthy burner ,

 

[townfanjon]

Wheres Croppie when you need him

 

[gpbeck]

Kris has given an excellent, and civil, reply.

 

[Darren Jackson]

It also depends on the boiler, Some have sensors on the flow side, a flow switch and other safety features. best to check with the manufactures to be 100% certain if swapping the F&R will make any difference. & definitely do not install the boiler yourself my friend!

 

[Dan]

I've closed this thread. Please ask your heating engineer any other questions you have about them installing this boiler. If you don't have one booked in already, post the job on the forum for one of our members to come out and quote for you.