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Black iron vs. copper

JonE | Posted in Construction Techniques on March 14, 2006 05:06am

Discussing heat piping loops and supply plumbing for radiant heating with my plumber this afternoon.  He mentioned that he was going to plumb the lines from the heat exchanger with black iron because it was cheaper than copper.    This is the loop that feeds the radiant heat manifolds and it’s supposedly a closed loop.

Any reason I should worry about this?  Rust or corrosion buildup?  Is it that much cheaper than copper?  Should I insist on copper?  The rest of the potable supply piping in the mechanical room is going to be copper, with Wirsbo PEX home runs to each bathroom group and the kitchen.   

I’d rather just not have black iron as part of my plumbing, but I don’t have a good reason why. 

 

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  1. sungod | Mar 14, 2006 06:08am | #1

    Isn't black iron pipe threaded? The labor cost alone would be much higher to thread pipe. Only Union pipefitters would want to use it around here.

  2. rich1 | Mar 14, 2006 07:22am | #2

    It's not part of your plumbing. It's part of your heating. Nothing wrong with black iron.

  3. joeh | Mar 14, 2006 07:28am | #3

    How much are you going to save?

    Seems like a stupid idea to me unless it's a bunch of $.

    Lot harder to work with, time is money, where's the savings?

    Joe H

     

  4. Dave45 | Mar 14, 2006 03:40pm | #4

    Ask him if he plans to use dielectric unions where the iron joins the copper.  If he says "No", send him to the library to learn about galvanic corrosion in dissimilar metals.

    "I don't have a good reason why."  Sure you do...........you're writing the check - lol.

  5. pickings | Mar 14, 2006 05:09pm | #5

    My HW basebd system has a threaded steel "manifold" w/ all the circulators attached. I guess for "structural" reasons.

    From the circulators onward it's all copper.

  6. BoJangles | Mar 14, 2006 05:42pm | #6

    Copper:  Easy to work with,  less likely to develop a leak,  much faster to assemble,                 easy to modify down the road.

    Black Pipe:  Much stronger,  labor intensive to install,  much more likely to develop a leak,  will get "ugly" on the outside over time,  hard to modify, doesn't flow as smoothly as copper.

    I see no practical reason to install black pipe for this application.  The piping system should be well supported anyway, so the strength is not really a factor.  As far as labor goes, I can't imagine the pipe being cheaper.

    If you want copper, tell him so!  It's your house.  If he doesn't like that , find somebody who does.

     

                                          

    1. pickings | Mar 14, 2006 07:45pm | #7

      If you want copper, tell him so!  It's your house.  If he doesn't like that , find somebody who does.

      Darn straight!

  7. atelier | Mar 14, 2006 10:34pm | #8

    INSIST on copper- by introducing black pipe you are introducing a new material in your plumbing/heating system (if heating is delivered by water : it's plumbing) meaning #1- you'll be using dielectric unions which are relatively expensive and are absolutely necessary to isolate your iron from your copper in your system. #2- you are introducing extra labour for threading this pipe (different set of tools completely, set up time, mess...)

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