In a few weeks time my driveway will be dug out and I'm trying to get
prepared for this

At the moment the (1/4"?) feed from the oil tank takes a circuitous
route to the boiler and the route will be even more circuitous and
inconvenient when I eventually move and replace the boiler, so I'd like
to take advantage of the digger to bury a new feed pipe under the drive

Googling around on the subject, 10mm plastic covered copper seems to be
recommended. I plan to buy extra so I can leave a curled up coil at each
end - by the oil tank and where the new boiler will be located, with the
ends gaffer taped to stop livestock getting in

Does that make sense? Is there anything else I should think about at
this stage, bearing in mind that my knowledge of oil fired heating
systems is minimal. Can anyone recommend a brand name and an online
supplier?

Anna

--
~~ Anna Kettle, Suffolk, England
|""""| ~ Lime plaster repairs
/ ^^ \ // Freehand modelling in lime: overmantels, pargeting etc
|____| www.kettlenet.co.uk 01359 230642

Anna Kettle wrote:
In a few weeks time my driveway will be dug out and I'm trying to get
prepared for this

At the moment the (1/4"?) feed from the oil tank takes a circuitous
route to the boiler and the route will be even more circuitous and
inconvenient when I eventually move and replace the boiler, so I'd like
to take advantage of the digger to bury a new feed pipe under the drive

Googling around on the subject, 10mm plastic covered copper seems to be
recommended. I plan to buy extra so I can leave a curled up coil at each
end - by the oil tank and where the new boiler will be located, with the
ends gaffer taped to stop livestock getting in

Does that make sense? Is there anything else I should think about at
this stage, bearing in mind that my knowledge of oil fired heating
systems is minimal. Can anyone recommend a brand name and an online
supplier?


Yes, 10mm plastic covered copper is the stuff you want. Ours came from
local plumbers' merchant, in a 50m roll.

You can use plastic oil pipe, but this must be terminated outside the
building, which is a bit of a pain. My preference is for copper.

Instead of gaffer tape, it'd be worth using end caps - either
compression or pushfit, to keep the pipe inside nice and clean.

You will need some buried pipe marker tape too.


--
Grunff

On Tue, 3 Jan 2006 09:49:11 -0000, Anna Kettle wrote:

Is there anything else I should think about at this stage

Lay the oil pipe in a length of 32mm waste pipe (or large conduit), so
you can pull it out if it breaks. Also consider laying conduit to take
power or telecoms to outbuildings, front gate etc.

--
Nigel M

Nigel Molesworth wrote:

Lay the oil pipe in a length of 32mm waste pipe (or large conduit), so
you can pull it out if it breaks

Better leave a tied off cord in there too, as you can't pull a new one
through using a broken old one ...

"Grunff" wrote in message
...
Anna Kettle wrote:
In a few weeks time my driveway will be dug out and I'm trying to get
prepared for this

At the moment the (1/4"?) feed from the oil tank takes a circuitous route
to the boiler and the route will be even more circuitous and inconvenient
when I eventually move and replace the boiler, so I'd like to take
advantage of the digger to bury a new feed pipe under the drive

Googling around on the subject, 10mm plastic covered copper seems to be
recommended. I plan to buy extra so I can leave a curled up coil at each
end - by the oil tank and where the new boiler will be located, with the
ends gaffer taped to stop livestock getting in

Does that make sense? Is there anything else I should think about at this
stage, bearing in mind that my knowledge of oil fired heating systems is
minimal. Can anyone recommend a brand name and an online supplier?

Why online? Its not a small parcel so you will be better off going down to
your local plumb centre branch. Rolls of 10, 25, or 50metres are available


Yes, 10mm plastic covered copper is the stuff you want. Ours came from
local plumbers' merchant, in a 50m roll.

You can use plastic oil pipe, but this must be terminated outside the
building, which is a bit of a pain. My preference is for copper.

Since an "acceptable" position for the oil firestop valve is outside the
building this is not a valid argument.

To the OP - I would suggest the use of a suitably sized "sleeve" or duct
buried beneath the new drive which would permit access in the event of a
future pipe replacement being required.

Instead of gaffer tape, it'd be worth using end caps - either compression
or pushfit, to keep the pipe inside nice and clean.

If the length is sufficient simply squash the ends closed. The flat end can
be cut off later when needed.


You will need some buried pipe marker tape too.

The pipe should be laid in sand or pea gravel beneath the marker tape. Take
a look at the OFTEC site for more info.

On Tue, 3 Jan 2006 09:49:11 -0000, Anna Kettle
wrote:

In a few weeks time my driveway will be dug out and I'm trying to get
prepared for this

At the moment the (1/4"?) feed from the oil tank takes a circuitous
route to the boiler and the route will be even more circuitous and
inconvenient when I eventually move and replace the boiler, so I'd like
to take advantage of the digger to bury a new feed pipe under the drive

Googling around on the subject, 10mm plastic covered copper seems to be
recommended. I plan to buy extra so I can leave a curled up coil at each
end - by the oil tank and where the new boiler will be located, with the
ends gaffer taped to stop livestock getting in

Does that make sense? Is there anything else I should think about at
this stage, bearing in mind that my knowledge of oil fired heating
systems is minimal. Can anyone recommend a brand name and an online
supplier?

Anna

I'd use some black MDPE pipe as a duct, cheap as chips, contains any
leaks and means the feed pipe is replaceable without disturbing drive.

Some more info he

http://www.oftec.co.uk
http://www.oftec.co.uk/publications/TI_134_Iss_03_Jan_2005_web.pdf
http://www.netregs.gov.uk/
http://www.netregs.gov.uk/commondata/acrobat/envagency_ppg2_welsh_218241.pdf
http://oilfiredup.com/directory/showCategory.asp?id=15

If the install has to be inspected sometime, it might be well worth
checking what you plan to do with them.

BES do a range of stuff for oil fired boilers:

http://www.bes.co.uk

cheers,
Pete.

On Tue, 3 Jan 2006 09:49:11 -0000, Anna Kettle wrote:

In a few weeks time my driveway will be dug out and I'm trying to get
prepared for this

At the moment the (1/4"?) feed from the oil tank takes a circuitous
route to the boiler and the route will be even more circuitous and
inconvenient when I eventually move and replace the boiler, so I'd like
to take advantage of the digger to bury a new feed pipe under the drive

Googling around on the subject, 10mm plastic covered copper seems to be
recommended. I plan to buy extra so I can leave a curled up coil at each
end - by the oil tank and where the new boiler will be located, with the
ends gaffer taped to stop livestock getting in

Does that make sense? Is there anything else I should think about at
this stage, bearing in mind that my knowledge of oil fired heating
systems is minimal. Can anyone recommend a brand name and an online
supplier?

Anna


Ring up Ridgeons and order it Anna.

A reel will fit in the back of an estate car tho.

I did the same thing on the new house.

It works well EXCEPT use as few compression joints as possible. I.e.
arrange that the pipe gets to the tank and fliter (boiler end) by a series
of smooth curves. DON'T try and make it neat with right angle elbows and
the like. 10mm compression fittings are fragile, and always leak -
especailly if the pipe gets knocked. Use gast type reed sealer on them.

Go deep enough under the drive - 600mm - so that trucks won't crush the
pipe. I'm guessing you are on clay there, and that backfills well, but if
there are large stones in what comes up, either bury the pipe in a layer of
shingle first, or get the stones out.

make sure the pipe is firmly fioxed above ground, as otherwise you knock it
and it leak at the joint.

Expect a devil of a job getting the air out. 10mm pipe does NOT flow well
over distance - I've got about a 25m run, and the first fill was a *******.
I ended up sucking it through...once through it flowed just fine. I don't
know why this was, because its only a U going down and up, but it was.

It is all utterly worth it though. Now my filters and fire valves are
tucked in the corner of an angle, the pipe is under the drive, and the tank
is tucked in a corner of the garden, with russian vine and albertine all
over it.

On Tue, 3 Jan 2006 20:45:49 +0000 (UTC), John wrote:

"Grunff" wrote in message
...
Anna Kettle wrote:
In a few weeks time my driveway will be dug out and I'm trying to get
prepared for this

At the moment the (1/4"?) feed from the oil tank takes a circuitous route
to the boiler and the route will be even more circuitous and inconvenient
when I eventually move and replace the boiler, so I'd like to take
advantage of the digger to bury a new feed pipe under the drive

Googling around on the subject, 10mm plastic covered copper seems to be
recommended. I plan to buy extra so I can leave a curled up coil at each
end - by the oil tank and where the new boiler will be located, with the
ends gaffer taped to stop livestock getting in

Does that make sense? Is there anything else I should think about at this
stage, bearing in mind that my knowledge of oil fired heating systems is
minimal. Can anyone recommend a brand name and an online supplier?

Why online? Its not a small parcel so you will be better off going down to
your local plumb centre branch. Rolls of 10, 25, or 50metres are available


Yes, 10mm plastic covered copper is the stuff you want. Ours came from
local plumbers' merchant, in a 50m roll.

You can use plastic oil pipe, but this must be terminated outside the
building, which is a bit of a pain. My preference is for copper.

Since an "acceptable" position for the oil firestop valve is outside the
building this is not a valid argument.

To the OP - I would suggest the use of a suitably sized "sleeve" or duct
buried beneath the new drive which would permit access in the event of a
future pipe replacement being required.

I wouldn;t. That pipe does not drag through anything undamaged. Ive got a
busted reel of it to prove it. If it breaks under the drive, dig the drive
up. Nothing else will do.


The pipe should be laid in sand or pea gravel beneath the marker tape. Take
a look at the OFTEC site for more info.

yeah yeah yeah. How many flower gardens is she going to dig in the drive?

Just go down half a meter Anna, and sod the tape.

Shingle is mandiatory in stony ground, far less so in our clay.

Thanks for all your comments - I'll get the pipe locally as several of
you suggest but I shall try to avoid sucking fuel oil through the pipe -
sounds disgusting! Luckily my fuel will be flowing downhill all the way
from the tank to the boiler

Anna

--
~~ Anna Kettle, Suffolk, England
|""""| ~ Lime plaster repairs
/ ^^ \ // Freehand modelling in lime: overmantels, pargeting etc
|____| www.kettlenet.co.uk 01359 230642

On Wed, 4 Jan 2006 08:04:41 -0000, Anna Kettle wrote:

Thanks for all your comments - I'll get the pipe locally as several of
you suggest but I shall try to avoid sucking fuel oil through the pipe -
sounds disgusting! Luckily my fuel will be flowing downhill all the way
from the tank to the boiler

Anna

Not if it goes underground...unless your boiler is below ground level.
At some point it has to rise up to boiler height.

Still, get someone else to suck your pipe.

Diesel is nasuaeting and sticks around until several whiskies later ;-)

In article , says...
On Wed, 4 Jan 2006 08:04:41 -0000, Anna Kettle wrote:

Thanks for all your comments - I'll get the pipe locally as several of
you suggest but I shall try to avoid sucking fuel oil through the pipe -
sounds disgusting! Luckily my fuel will be flowing downhill all the way
from the tank to the boiler

Anna

Not if it goes underground...unless your boiler is below ground level.
At some point it has to rise up to boiler height.

Ah! I wondered if anyone would spot the flaw in my comment

Still, get someone else to suck your pipe.
Diesel is nasuaeting and sticks around until several whiskies later ;-)

Sounds like I will need an expert (I have plenty of whisky)

And an aside to NP ...

I see the house down the road from you (wot I was lusting over a couple
of years ago) is up for sale at last. Looking at the spec I was
surprised that it is dated 17/18C I would have guessed older than that
but then I have only looked at it from the road. Anyhow much as I would
have had good neighbours grin I'm glad I got my place instead not
least cos central heating is well worth having at this time of year

Anna

--
~~ Anna Kettle, Suffolk, England
|""""| ~ Lime plaster repair and conservation
/ ^^ \ // Freehand modelling in lime: overmantels, pargeting etc
|____| www.kettlenet.co.uk 01359 230642