My parents house is from the late 60's with the original pipework (gun barrel) for most of the downstairs. They did a loft extension ~35 years ago and all the plumbing upstairs is with Qual-Pex. My father wants to replace the heating system downstairs but leave upstairs as is. Downstairs consists of 7 rooms with 9 radiators but the bathroom rad and pipe work are new (they cut the upstairs plex and fed the rad from there). The living room does have a back boiler that has never really worked. Downstairs is all suspended wooden floor except for the kitchen. The oil boiler is ~35 years old.
He got a quote about 6 years ago for €17k to replace the heating system and the contractor who did the bathroom was meant to back with a quote but never did (however my father made contact with them again this week).
The reasoning for upgrade is to make the house warmer and only heat the rooms that are being used ie put the house into 4 zones (one for hot water).
I am going to lift a few floorboards downstairs to look into insulating underneath them but I know myself I am going to very tempted to pull in new plex pipe when I've the floorboards up.
So I've two questions on this:
There is also gas available but I'm not sure if it's worth the hassle to switch.
He got a quote about 6 years ago for €17k to replace the heating system and the contractor who did the bathroom was meant to back with a quote but never did (however my father made contact with them again this week).
The reasoning for upgrade is to make the house warmer and only heat the rooms that are being used ie put the house into 4 zones (one for hot water).
I am going to lift a few floorboards downstairs to look into insulating underneath them but I know myself I am going to very tempted to pull in new plex pipe when I've the floorboards up.
So I've two questions on this:
- Is there that much value in replacing the heating system rather than just running it all the time in the winter as how many years will we need to see a return on investment?
- Would any plumber connect into my pipe work if I fit all the rooms with new pipe work and radiators? I would be just leaving the new pipes unconnected in the boiler room?
There is also gas available but I'm not sure if it's worth the hassle to switch.