The piping components of hydronic heaters are the system’s main element. Hydronic heating works with fluids and without the pipes to carry the fluids there is no system. Hence, this piping must be designed to work well, carrying fluids without issues. But once designed these heating systems carry on working for decades.
There is a whole branch of physics dedicated to the motion of fluids, especially through pipes. These physics matters can be very complex, but the level of understanding needed for general house plumbing is hardly at the forefront of research. The techniques and technical knowledge needed for house plumbing and heating pipes had been established for many years. It is simply a matter of designing a water heating system for each individual house.
Some standard Pipe fittings:
Elbow – this is a 90 degree or 45 degree turn in the piping. A longer radius elbow is 1.5 times greater than the diameter of the pipe. A short radius pipe has the same diameter as the pipe.
Coupling – This joins to lengths of pipe together. Sometimes these two lengths of pipe are different sizes, and are termed a reducing coupling.
Reducing Coupling – These connect pipes of different sizes, with the different pipe sizes being necessary for meeting hydraulic flow requirements of the system. The slope of the reducing coupling is usually the average diameter of the two different pipes. Sometime the coupling is eccentric, so that the smaller pipe does not connect to the centre of the larger pipe but is set off parallel to one side. This is preferable for horizontal surfaces.
Tee – A Tee will split one pipe into two pipes running 90 degrees to the first pipe. Sometimes the two pipes in the T section will be smaller than the first pipe. This might be necessary to maintain even pressure and flow.