piped skirting

[Boabie]

Can anyone tell me what length of 15mm copper pipe would equate to a 7000btu rad? OR how much water is contained in a 7000btu rad?
I've done the online calc's and for my room I need approx 7000btu rad. I don't want to hang rads and looked at thermaskirt which is damn expensive and fittings are unique to their system. So now I want to calculate what length of 15mm pipe would equate to the rad, If my skirting is long enough I can do the work using mostly if not all off the shelf fixings.

 

[Worcester]

I have a suggestion.. buy a 100m coil of pex pipe, hang it on the wall and connect each end of the coil to the heating system piping.
Let me know if its works, have been toying with the idea for some time.

Put it outside in a box, paint it all black put some perspex over the top - got yourself a diy solar collector :
Big, 24' X 8' Solar Collector Using PEX Tubing - Step by Step How to Build - YouTube
Construction of PEX Solar Collector

 

[basildog]

The Bulgarians have been doing this on their mountain summer houses for years !
An old rad or 2 painted black and I guess some kind of storage they now have free hot water for washing etc !

 

[mountainman]

I built a swimming pool heater a few years ago using the same principle.

Also did a similar thing with an underground coil of pipe.

Not in the U.K. though

 

[Ermintrude]

I'm going to be doing reverse soon, building a pilot wood gasifier which re burns singas and heats a thermal store. I know you can buy them but felt like a challenge and it needs to be low cost. Might build in a secondary gasifier for dog poop and burn that gas too! Currently messing with tubes to getatrix right!

 

[Howsie]

The Bulgarians have been doing this on their mountain summer houses for years !
An old rad or 2 painted black and I guess some kind of storage they now have free hot water for washing etc !

I've been doing it for years on one of the au pairs swimming pools. Trouble is I was never sure it was working because of all the friction generated.

 

[lame plumber]

What if you increased the pipe size?

There would be more heat output from the pipe.

I have a suggestion.. buy a 100m coil of pex pipe, hang it on the wall and connect each end of the coil to the heating system piping. That will definately give you more than the required heat output. Probably @ 10,000 Btu's

Let me know if its works, have been toying with the idea for some time.

not true as when you increase the pipe diameter it may be able to carry more heat per se but the surface area does not increase at the same rate and cant disapate the heat as well, so the smaller pipe will lose heat quicker than the large pipe in relation to its size. Which is why shrews spend their lives eating as they lose heat so quickly compared to their volume but elephants cant lose heat quick enough and have had to evolve their massive ears to do so

 

[Worcester]

not true as when you increase the pipe diameter it may be able to carry more heat per se but the surface area does not increase at the same rate and cant disapate the heat as well, so the smaller pipe will lose heat quicker than the large pipe in relation to its size. Which is why shrews spend their lives eating as they lose heat so quickly compared to their volume but elephants cant lose heat quick enough and have had to evolve their massive ears to do so

Far to serious an answer


If he REALLY wants to calculate it, then here are the figures from the DHDG 2013 edition:
Now all he needs to calculate is his MW-AT and flow rate to go with it

 

[Ray Stafford]

I gave him that back on page 1 (admittedly for uninsulated, unpainted pipe).

 

[happyflyer]

I thought the Dragons Den had rejected this idea out of hand and they are not plumbers, 39 post and its time to let go lads, heat loss from a pipe in open air is rather complex, its a function
of, area, water temp, air speed over pipe, surrounding air temperature, blah blah blah there is nothing to be gained here.