flexible stainless pipe for hot water?

[kreyszig]

well, I've discovered the wonderful world of unvented (pressurised) hot water cylinders, and although it is a while off yet I think when we do our bathroom I would like to replace the vented cylinder (currently taking up quite a bit of room in the corner of a fairly average sized bathroom, along with the cold water reservoir above it) with an unvented one, moving it to a downstairs to a utility room.
This is pretty straightforward, I think, with the slight complication of extra plumbing for the solar water heating panels that were here when we bought the house. well, that and finding the £, as they cost a few quid.

I have come across some flexible stainless hot water hoses while I've been looking around - any thoughts on using these or similar to run from the loft down into said utility room? I'm thinking they are likely to be a bit easier to route than copper, being literally more flexible. I wonder if they can be used for central heating too, since we'd probably move the boiler out of the kitchen too. I'm thinking we could use straight runs of copper where we're forced to expose the pipework, but in internal spaces the flex could be quite handy.

any other tips on relocation of hot water cylinders most appreciated!
sorry not really a period question but I find the diy forums tend to be full of tradespeople being sarky tw*ts

 

[MatthewC]

I find the diy forums tend to be full of tradespeople being sarky tw*ts

+1

Sorry can't help with the question though, apart from asking what is the expected life of flexible pipes? If it's not forever, do you want to put them where you would have trouble replacing them?

 

[88v8]

Do you mean the rubber pipes with a stainless overbraid?
Or the flexible stainless pipe with a copper end?
The latter should be permanent as far as I can see. I've never used them, don't know how tolerant they are of bending.
Quite a range here
http://www.bes.co.uk/products/095.asp

I wouldn't bury the overbraid pipes in the wall as rubber has a limited life, but then don't we all

Ivor

 

[plasticpigeon]

I'm pretty sure that the flexible ribbed stainless pipes are used in exhaust systems of turbo charged cars in order to allow for thermal expansion. I can't imagine your domestic hot water supply being as hostile environment as the 900 degrees exhaust temp of a high performance engine so would imagine they would last as long as anything else in the house.

 

[TheRoost]

Saw something about flexible pipes (not steel braided) being used for central heating in new builds, in place of copper - the pipes came out of the wall behind the rads, the idea being that you can lift the rad off the wall and lay it on the floor when decorating (!) They didn't say what the material/spec was though.

 

[noj]

Have you ruled out using suitable plastic pipes? If you're relatively rodent free it could be a simple way of getting the flex you need?

 

[kreyszig]

ah 88v8 that's what I'm on about. Not the rubber cored ones, the whole hose is SS.
i'll have a look at new build techniques then too, no real reason not to use plastic apart from possible durability issues I suppose.