District Heat Main

“District Heating” is the use of a centralised boiler installation to provide heat for a number of outlets, i.e. flats, greenhouses, swimming pools. The heat can be supplied by a boiler or a combined heat and power plant (or CHP).

Boilers to burn wood-fuels such as wood chips and pellets (Biomass) tend to be physically larger and more expensive than equivalent gas or oil boilers. This is partly as a result of the physical requirements for a high temperature combustion chamber environment and the costs of transporting the solid fuel. As oil and gas boilers get larger the cost becomes comparatively closer, so wood-fuel becomes economically attractive, especially for multiple outlets or where a large kW output is required.

District Heating makes the use of all these cost advantages, as well as the administrative benefits of using a single boiler installation to provide heat to a number of buildings.

District Heating is much more common European countries than in the UK, although the UK is catching up. In Denmark for instance District Heating provides 60% of their heating.

A typical District Heating installation consists of a highly insulated heat main of flow and return (at CE Mechanical Services we install RAUTHERMEX  pre insulated pipe) distributing hot water past all buildings which might be connected.    A heat meter is added to each to each line so the delivered heat can be billed accordingly. 

At CE Mechanical Services we can install PEX pipework from 16mm to 108mm. You supply, we will install, pressure test and hand back to you, from boilerhouse to house.

For more information, please see the Rauthermex Technical Manual.

The Manual is available in Adobe Acrobat format - not got Adobe Reader?