The central heating system fitted in all our homes is generally referred to by the plumbing trade as a ‘wet central heating system’ with hot water flowing through its pipework and radiators. The boiler is the heat provider for this system, as it burns fuel to create the direct heat required. It may though, use a heat exchanger or coil which will transfer the heat to the water which is supplying the network of pipes. The ‘Wet Systems’ are definately the most popular way of running a heating system in the United Kingdom. All the radiators have valves to provide control of the rate of flow, and can control the time the water is present in the radiator and the amount of heat that is created. A well designed system can have several smaller radiator circuits fed from the pump, rather than one large, this is a way to guarantee the last radiator in the chain heats just as well as the first one. Hoxton Plumbers know these systems.

Pipe System:
These radiator circuits are fitted with 15mm copper pipes, whereas, pipes connecting the boiler and the pump and the points were the circuit splits are usually 22mm or 28mm in size. The capillary type of joints with solder are best (apart from connections to boiler, pump and valves), and are guaranteed against leaking. Newer plastic pipework has been made for use in wet central heating systems, but they can’t connect to the boiler, so use a short piece of copper pipe instead. Pentonville Plumbers can fit copper pipework.

Two-Pipe and Single-Pipe Systems:
Modern systems use something called a two-pipe system. This system is where the generated hot water is circulated from the pump to the inlet valve on every radiator in a flow pipe, that stops at the last radiator in the system. A secondary pipe, called the return pipe, takes the cool water from the radiators back to the boiler to be re-heated.


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