Loft insulation on piping

[dwaindigital]

Hi All,

I have an unvented cylinder system up in my loft (tank, boiler & piping etc).
I have insulated the loft roof (so kinsgpan in the rafters)
On our coldest day so far this year the loft temp went down to 9°C, outside was around 0°C.

I have many exposed pipes from my boiler system up there and was wondering should I be insulating the pipes?
The boiler should have frost protection but the hot and cold water pipes will be holding water overnight or during periods when we are out.

In a normal set-up (boiler in kitchen or cupboard) the pipes are subject to the home temperature.

What would be the best approach for these long copper pipes including the gas pipe?

Thanks

 

[gpbeck]

Considering the low cost of pipe insulation, (vs one sheet of kingspan!!) I'd definitely do this. If your house heating were to fail, the loft might freeze.

 

[ShaunCorbs]

Yes also it’s building regs any cylinder needs the pipes insulating until they go into walls / disappear etc

 

[dwaindigital]

This really bugs me as I didn't know any of this when moving plumbing to the loft as it was all considered and installed May-Aug.
The installer did not advise or have it proactive thinking cap on. it's only once I started taking temp readings then I got a little concerned.

okay, a little more advice guys.

I've attached some photos. as you can see it might be a little difficult to work out how to insulate these pipes as they are affixed to the floor or wall.

suggestions?

 

[Ric2013]

Technically, the pipes are on the warm side of the insulated roof but they could still have some individual insulation as a belt and braces approach, but it'll have to be thin as they are clipped too close to get a decent thickness on. You might have to wrap them with something as may not be space for a jacket. No need to insulate the gas pipe - they are often run on the outside of buildings. You could spray foam them, but I pity anyone who ever has to work on the pipes if you were to do that and I'm not convinced it wouldn't harm the copper.

To see pipes installed uninsulated in that way is less than impressive and not really to standard, but the fact that the rafters are insulated does give some level of excuse. Realistically, it's not that likely the house will be unheated and it be cold enough for long enough to have a freeze in London, but if you can get some extra insulation on the pipes, then do it.

Obviously, as Shaun implies, it also makes sense from the point of view of energy efficiency, and in keeping the cold water pipes at a hygienic temperature in warm weather.

 

[dwaindigital]

Thanks, I was thinking about using something like insulation wrap (probably need to switch the heating off beforehand. I found this @ Screwfix

 

[Ric2013]

I always wonder how effective the aluminium foil will be in a wrap application (cold bridging?), but I am told this is the way they use it. I can't really imagine that the product you link to will actually be any better than standard bubble wrap or felt used as a wrap (I once used foil backed bubble wrap behind some radiators on outside walls and felt it didn't really do a lot), but it will certainly be a reasonable option.

 

[MOSSEP]

Whoever put that in has never thought about insulation on pipes, no where near enough space between them to do an effective job of it.

 

[gpbeck]

A few of those joints under the boiler need a scrub with water/detergent to remove traces of flux which can corrode copper. Then I’d use foam pipe insulation, 22mm and 15mm, trimming the depth of it at the back then gaps for the clips so it will fill the narrow gap left behind. I’d wrap the horizontal pipes with foil wrap (as a group), maybe a run of loft insulation along the top. A fiddly job but that’s a nice loft to work in!

 

[dwaindigital]

I guess this is a lesson learnt for me as there is so much to think about when getting a boiler moved. It being my first time seeing this type of plumbing.
I'm going to keep you guys updated as you are all very helpful.
Watch this space