When to replace heating pipes

Hello, we are in the process of compiling the necessary renovation and refurbishment measures for a two-family house built in 1958. The question arises whether the heating pipes of an oil central heating system installed in 1977 should also be renewed since the wall is going to be opened anyway because the electrical wiring and water pipes for the bathrooms are to be replaced. The oil central heating system (from 2001) does not currently need to be replaced according to the chimney sweep; it would "still meet all requirements for the next 10 years." We basically want to do what is necessary but have no intention of reaching new-build standards. Unfortunately, the money is not sufficient for that. So the question is, how long do heating pipes from 1977 typically last?

Hello hello

What material are the pipes made of? And how are they installed? Surface-mounted or flush-mounted?

Installed in 1977 afterwards, so I assume copper as surface-mounted installation. If you don’t plan any major changes to the piping system, you can leave everything as it is. It will last like that forever.

Olli

Thank you for the answer, Olli, the pipes are concealed and probably not copper. I can't say what metal it is - I would have recognized copper.

Since the heating system is to be replaced in the medium term (in 5-10 years) (oil is really not the fuel of the future), but we have not yet found a really satisfactory solution, I have doubts whether it makes sense to replace the heating pipes now without knowing what I will actually need.

If the decision is made for exterior insulation and a heat pump, I have different requirements for the radiators/piping system than if we choose wood pellets.

I was just unsure because the electrician said we should definitely replace the heating pipes at the same time if we are already “in the wall.”

Look again carefully.
I can no longer imagine steel pipe and [UP Installation] in 77.

Olli

So I recently sold a house from the 60s. The buyer had also consulted a heating engineer because some work needed to be done on the heating system. There were no copper pipes there, and the heating engineer said that what you see on the outside is usually just surface rust; inside, the pipes normally don't rust and last quite a long time (I didn’t want to say forever). Therefore, replacing the pipes just on suspicion, without knowing what you might need in 10 years, probably doesn’t make sense. In the worst case, you end up doing a large part twice. Better take as many detailed photos as possible of where the lines are so that later, if you have to open the wall again, you don’t drill into anything. If you hack open the wall yourself and later plaster it again, you’ll save little to nothing compared to having both done now.

I did not have the heating pipes replaced (my house was built in 1979/80), according to the plumber this does not seem necessary, especially since the walls throughout the house would have had to be broken open. In the basement, they run under the ceiling, so they are accessible at any time anyway. I replaced the radiators themselves with flat radiators for aesthetic reasons, including new thermostats. I had the bathrooms completely renovated and took the opportunity to have all riser pipes in the vertical shafts replaced. However, the most important here are the normal water supply pipes, because we have relatively hard water, for example, which can cause them to deteriorate much more. The water in the heating circuit is not changed frequently, so no new lime deposits or oxygen that could react with the pipes occur. Weak points are usually the solder joints and bends. The hoses of underfloor heating systems from these years are often susceptible to oxygen diffusion, which can cause the pipes to clog up somehow (mine still looked good). These pipes should therefore possibly be flushed if you have such plastic pipes in the underfloor heating from that time. Apart from the underfloor heating, only copper pipes have been installed in my house. That was common at that time.