Gas central heating with concrete floors?

[OhnoDiy]

I am moving into a bungalow that currently has electric heating only. There is a mains gas entry to the property, so I would ideally prefer gas central heating, however how does the plumbing work to radiators etc., with concrete floors?

Many Thanks

Carol

[buildersmate]

When you ask a Heating Contractor to quote, ask about how he/she will solve this. The usual way is to run the pipes around loft space above, then down the walls to each radiator position. But you need to check out how this will look, to what extent it can be disguised by putting into corners etc. If two rads in different rooms are on opposite sides of the same wall, the supply/return pipes can run from one to the other, so the number of vertical runs down the wall may be fewer than you first think.

[carrust]

I saw this problem solved on a job I was working on. The plumber removed all the skirting boards & ran the pipes in plastic trunking, then replaced the skirtings. It was a lot of messing about, & the plumber whinged like hell, but the job looked far better for having no exposed pipes.

[thundercrack]

I went into a bungalow and the owner had the plumber chase out the walls and bury the pipes. terrible mess, but he didn't want to see any pipe work. would have thought the false skirting would be the answer and back to back as many rads as possible.no easy solution, but the saving on gas heating over electric will be more than worth it.

[gucciman]

you get what you pay for, if you specify you want the pipes chased into the wall then be prepared to pay a fortune. also, if its chased into a wall or hidden behind skirting they will probably use small bore pipe i.e. 8 or 10mm rather than the usual 15mm, this is fine while the system is new but over time it can silt up and the system will not heat up as well.
its worth noting that a professional heating installer will prefer to site the radiators under a window if possible, this is because it is the coldest part of the room and the draft from the window will then blow the heat over the rest of the room, so while installing the radiators back to back on an internal wall saves on exposed pipework it is not the BEST way of doing it. a lot of heating installers do it this way as its quick and they make more profit then.
some people are quite happy to have the pipes exposed but tucked into the corners or tight to the skirting board as possible and then painting them the same colour as the walls, after a while you don't notice them. or my father in law as put his in white plastic cable trunking which blends in with the skirting board and door surrounds very nicely.
get 3 firms in to give You a quote, ask them their opinions, discuss with them exactly what You want.
beware of british gas though, they do a first class job but they charge a fortune!