pipes go up chimney??

srcandas

Just opened up the fireplace so a double sided (open to lounge and kitchen) log burner can be installed. Found central heating pipe, probably two, which will now be exposed to the lower fireplace cavity. (Sorry title over states it but can't see how to edit it).

So my question is are there dangers of having central heating pipes (copper) near and exposed to such a heat source? The burner is 16 kW and we want it as a heat source and not just decoration so will be burning 24/7 for a number of months.

Any thoughts gratefully received before we have to consider solutions. :beer:

zaax

A normal brick chimney can't take the heat of a log burner therefore the chimney will need a liner, and the pipes removed as the solder will melt.

srcandas

zaax tx for that. Yes there will be 3 meters of liner going up the chimney. But your observation about melting solder is worrying. However from what I can currently see there are no connections, just straight pipe. And the pipe will be about 10 cms away from the stove. I'm guessing however that copper pipes will transmit the heat down their lengths to where there will eventually be joints.

This is a dilemma as the plan is to see if the logburner plus supplementary electric heating will meet the need in an economic way. If so the central heating gets taken out. So I really do not want to pay for the repositioning of pipes.

Once the fireplace/lower chimney is fully opened up I will see more. Perhaps some sort of shielding would do it. Again guessing but central heating pipes are subject to lots of heat as the hot water passes so I guess we are looking at the difference.

Anyway tx again for your input :cool:

Le_Kirk

Are they pipes from an existing working central heating system or are they perhaps old pipes from when you had a back boiler in the old fireplace?

southcoastrgi

I'd tend to agree with the above

srcandas

Le_Kirk wrote: »

Are they pipes from an existing working central heating system or are they perhaps old pipes from when you had a back boiler in the old fireplace?

Nice thought Le_Kirk but these are the real thing.

DaftyDuck

They will, without a doubt, need removing. Doesn't matter if there's solder, compression fittings, or simply copper piping. Firstly, the conductivity of the metal will allow considerable heat transfer along the pipe, so any soldered joint further along could rapidly fail. Secondly, if one of the pipes should rupture, think of the mess that would result - worse if the stove was alight and hot. Thirdly, the circulation of water might be severely impaired if the differential between the two pipes' temperatures is affected. There are other reasons (corrosion/damage to flue, damage to chimney structure... endless) to get this sorted now.

Not doing so would be a real botch. You are highly likely to regret it if you dont sort it.

JP08

Not to mention the potential for fun and games should you manage to boil the water in those pipes - especially likely if the central heating is not running as you won't be cycling that nice cooler water. Steam suddenly escaping from a confined area is such fun !

srcandas

Many tx guys. You've set the horror scene in my mind so sort it I will.

I'm now thinking drain the system and get rid of those pipes. Then try to live without central heating. If that doesn't work I can then do the re-positioning of those pipes.

Cheers :beer:

firefox1956

I would double double double check that they are not old back boiler pipes as others have suggested.
I just can't think of a sensible reason as to why anybody would put central heating pipes up a chimney.......
HTH

Head_The_Ball

srcandas wrote: »

(Sorry title over states it but can't see how to edit it)...

Select 'Edit' on your first post and then select 'Go Advanced'.

You will then be able to edit the title.