Materials for heating pipes

A modern heating distribution system is divided into three system sections. These are the distribution pipe, the risers and the fine distribution within the living or common rooms. Various materials can be used for this. Every installer often has a favourite. Nevertheless, the following are suitable 

• Carbon steel 

• Copper 

• Plastic 

• Certain stainless steels such as NiroTherm® 

Carbon steel for heating 

Carbon steel pipes and fittings are a classic, economical choice. Since the heating system is a closed system and there is usually no oxygen input, corrosion is not an issue with professionally installed and operated heating systems. We offer carbon steel pipes and fittings in many dimensions. Depending on the condition, threaded pipes, seamless steel pipes and welded precision steel pipes are mainly used for heating pipes. The material is cheap, suitable for pressure and temperatures of up to 120 degrees Celsius. A disadvantage of many types of steel pipes is the risk of external corrosion. For this reason, they are not suitable for areas exposed to moisture such as screed. For this purpose we offer a special stainless steel (NiroTherm®, see below).  

Operating conditions  

Copper heating tubes 

In many European countries, copper has prevailed over welded steel tubes as an installation material due to its known good properties - both in terms of construction and installation technology as well as tube hydraulics. The introduction of press technology and the possibility of using copper tubes with smaller wall thicknesses in heating systems according to DIN EN 1057 make copper tube installation more and more economical and thus more interesting for the trade - also with regard to other materials such as plastics. The use of copper tubes is typical for smaller heating systems. They are just as easy to grout, but expand somewhat more than steel pipes when the temperature fluctuates. Copper heating tubes are corrosion-resistant and cause a lower pressure loss of the heating water than carbon steel tubes. Our range includes all the usual dimensions between 12 and 108 mm.  

Operating conditions 

Plastic pipes for heating 

If the system temperatures in the heating system are limited to about 80 70 degrees Celsius, it is also possible to use plastic pipes with fittings, e.g. made of PPSU. These are easy to process, corrosion-resistant and also have particularly smooth surfaces on the inside of the pipe. Disadvantages of plastic pipes are the high linear expansion and the fact that they are permeable to oxygen to a small degree. For such cases - e.g. to protect downstream metal pipes from oxygen input - we offer MultiFit® flex multilayer pipes with an integrated diffusion-tight aluminium layer.  

Operating conditions

Stainless steel for heating: No more expensive than other materials! 

When installing in screeds or in humid atmospheres, the carbon steel pipe system can only be used if suitable measures can be taken to guarantee that longer exposure of the outer system surface to moisture can be ruled out. In these cases we therefore recommend the use of our stainless steel piping system NiroTherm®.  

The system consists of stainless steel pipes and system press fittings with the material number 1.4301 (old designation V2A). As a result, it offers significantly greater protection against external corrosion than carbon steel. However, this does not detract from the cost-effectiveness, because thanks to the high corrosion resistance and the reduced insulation work, labour- and cost-intensive work is reduced to a minimum. The application of a protective coating, as is necessary with carbon steel pipes, can be completely omitted. - As a fabricator, you can offer your projects in an economically attractive way. 

Operating conditions

Do you have questions about the selection of the suitable heating pipe, fittings, dimensioning, calculation of mass flow or pipe network design? Then our technical application consulting service at technik@sanha.com / 02054 925 170 or our planning service at planungsservice@sanha.com / 02054 925 235 will be happy to help!