In France - installing a Rayburn

[healer]

Hello folks - I've been reading your forum for about a year now but never summed up courage to join - what can I add to this great debate? Well I am a "hands on healer" that has moved out of the UK to France to get a calmer place to live. We grow most of our own food - vegetarian - and store it - numerous ways, and heat with wood. The little valley I own is a pocket for wildlife and selected humans.
We are looking to install a Rayburn 345W and it looks like we will have to do the plumbing ourselves. We want to use a very large radiator on the first floor instead of a water tank - gravity fed and a second radiator system of 4 radiators. Anyone done this before? Can we just use normal copper pipe soldering on the primary system? I know in at the deep end but those that know probably understand what I'm talking about.

[red]

welcome

I'm afraid I cant help with your rayburn question - but hopefully someone will be along who can.

[Green Aura]

Hi healer and welcome

I understand all the individual words in your second paragraph, but strung together as a sentence they read "blah blah blah" to me But there are loads of technical-minded bods on here so someone will be able to help I'm sure.

[contadino]

We want to use a very large radiator on the first floor instead of a water tank - gravity fed and a second radiator system of 4 radiators. Anyone done this before? Can we just use normal copper pipe soldering on the primary system? I know in at the deep end but those that know probably understand what I'm talking about.

I understand the question, but not the design. A hot water tank is designed to hold heat in until needed - a radiator is designed to dump heat into the room. Sure, having a gravity feed will work, but I can't imagine a rad big enough to dump the heat from a Rayburn. I also can't understand how you'd have a separate radiator circuit running from the 1st rad. Are you talking about a pumped circuit with a diverter valve?

People get a bit jittery about using pumped circuits with stoves. The pumps can fail, the power can go off, etc... Personally, so long as you mitigate the risks (TRVs & PRVs), I can't see the problem, but each to their own.

[healer]

Thanks contadino, you've got me thinking again.
The big radiator about - 2m by 1m was replacing the hot water tank because I can't afford the new hot water tank and its at the wrong end of the house anyway. But it sounds like as long as I can dump the heat out it doesn't matter how the system is strung together - so it could all be one string of radiaters gravity fed - as long as they are open and there are the safety valves...
We are trying to get the Rayburn fired up for winter but know we can't run it dry and until we try we don't know what sort of heat we can produce!
What about the soldering? My partner has done quite a bit of water pipes - is that good enough or is it different for the really hot pipes?

[contadino]

Remember if you string the rads in serial, you won't be able to switch individual ones off. Other than that it should work fine. I used compression fittings, but I don't see why soldered joints would be a problem.

[MuddyWitch]

Welcome to ISH

*leaves quietly, not understanding a word of the conversation*

MW

[Millymollymandy]

Moi non plus!

Hello, welcome, and hope you get your heating sorted out.