What sort of pipe do you recommend for fitting central heating?

Plastic or Copper?

As money is tight at mo, i looking at running all the pipes for my central heating, was going to use copper as thats all i've ever used when moving radiators etc. But ive heard alot about plastic pipe, which is alot more easier to install for underfloor boards and then copper to radiators? What sort of fittings are used, the pushfit ones??

Cheers for any information?


P.s
I've tryed DIY forum's and they just said get a pro, which didnt help!

 

i take it, its this stuff:
http://www.wickes.co.uk/15mm/Easyfit-Pipe/invt/424882

 

Plumpers lol.

Thought it was gonna be about tubby people!

 

opps....changed

 

Mate, i would use copper all day long. I had an extension built and plastic push fittings were used. Well so far 4 have them have let go including the hot feed for the kitchen sink. This caused my boiler to fire up over night and the hot water ruined a new kitchen which had to be replaced.

I know a lot of the heating engineers like plastic but I hate it. I had to get my dad round to change it all back to copper.

get it done proper, get it done in copper..ooh quite catchy that

 

There's nothing wrong with plastic.
It's the people that think they know how to use it that's the problem.
If the stiffening sleeve is used and pipe is pushed in as far as the manufacturer intended there won't be any failures.

The difference between copper and plastic is, mess up the joint on copper and it will start with a slight leak and develop into a major leak over a long time.
Mess the joint up on plastic and you get a sudden catastrophic failure.

.

 

Im an electrician but I`ve seen some plumbers using stuff, pipe in a pipe. Its sort of clear white colour with a red or black flxible over it. Usually seen it for underfloor heating. Whats it like to use?

 

I've been plumbing for 23 years since leaving school, and I use Hep2o plastic pipe where it won't be seen and copper on any surface pipework

Never ever had issues with the plastic, as long as you use the sleeve and its pushed in fully you wont have a problem

Use the "barrier" pipe for heating pipework btw

Other Plumbers will say different makes, but I personally have found Hep2o best

 

copper all day long mate
only a decent plumber would use copper (plastic fittings have rubber seals in them i.e hot cold, hot cold, they dont last forever im not saying theres ote wrong with plastic but ive ripped out copper thats 60/70 years old, and its as good as the day it went in

and i assume its roughly the same price as plastic

not saying your not a decent plumber turboboy just my opinion lol

 

I have used plastic pipework before....but if i can use copper i will, much prefer it tbh

 

yes ok my car has lots of rubber parts and these get far hotter than any central heating pipe, i so far have had zero leaks.

 

id use copper everyday, tried and tested, i know plastics a hell of a lot easier to use esp for threading under floorboards etc but what will a rubber o ring be like in 20-30 yrs time?

 

im a central heating installer and i use only copper in every system i fit. i use the hep2o pipe on domestic plumbing side but always prefered the copper on heating systems.

used plastic on heating systems when i worked on new builds but just never trusted it enough personally.

 

You could use Hep2o plastic then use compression elbows and copper tails to the rads ,make sure you use the inserts though mate ,probably work out cheaper than using all copper and would save you time Rashers

 

Copper. Plastic is good and quick but hasnt been around to stand the test of time liek copper....

 

[QUOTE=rssteve;3660041]yes ok my car has lots of rubber parts and these get far hotter than any central heating pipe, i so far have had zero leaks.[/QUOT

well done mate im happy for ya

 

the only problem i had with using copper was getting contamination in the pipes and it would crack anyone else had this trouble?

 

Interesting answers, seems to me copper is what everyone is used to, so dont really use plastic. it also seems people dont really used plastic as it hasn't been tested for 30+ years etc?

 

Plastic pipe for domestic water systems use has been around for at least 35years.

.

 

you could get solvent weld 15/22mm stuff for domestic use around 20 yrs ago but it never caught on, the fittings were fookin huuge and looked awful

 

Only copper for me!, but the plastic speedfit cap ends are brill. LOL

 

I wonder what the original plumbers thought of copper pipe when that was introduced as opposed to lead. Is pvc pipe not just evolution? Personally I hate pvc, copper all the way for me.

 

Hep2os fine. If there's ever a leak 99% of the time it's because the fitting hasn't been pushed together properly. We've always called it acorn pipe though, dunno why.

 

There is definately a place in the market for plastic speedfit pipe and it has its uses (where it can't be seen and underfloors). If installed correctly it is 100% trustworthy. However it or anything else will never replace copper as its longlasting, looks good and is the most reliable. Not to mention it is lovely to work with.