Condensate Pro has called for all builds to have condensate pipes insulated as standard.
The company has commented following a recent consultation from the Department for Business, Enterprise and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) setting out the UK Government’s plans for the Future Homes Standard.
This included a proposal to include more stringent build quality advice on pipework where it enter or exits a building.
Dave Smith, managing director of Condensate Pro, said: “We welcome the fact that new build quality guidance is potentially being included in the Building Regulations, which will help energy efficiency. However, you must not ignore the pipework itself. If the condensate pipe connected to condensing boilers, or the pipes running to Air Source Heat Pumps are not fully protected properly, including those systems which are powered by gas/ oil or even in the future, hydrogen boilers, they may be at risk of breakdown or not running efficiently.
“Boiler breakdown due to frozen pipework is usually at a time when the heating is really needed and a professional installer may not be able to get to a home due to the weather conditions. We would like to see external condensate and heating pipes running to and from heat pumps insulated properly and this practice added to the Build Quality guidance outlined in Annex C of the consultation and also bring British Standards up to date.
“Our hope is that the focus in the new building regulations on energy efficiency and pipework coming into the home, encourages the industry to look again at best practice, even in retrofit situations on existing houses. We believe the current industry guidance is slightly flawed as it is very difficult to achieve practically on site – mainly in terms of pipe size and holes drilled into cavity walls where the pipe passes through. I would like the guidance to be changed, but in the meantime Condensate Pro provides a much simpler, better looking and easy way to make sure pipes are protected.”
Condensate Pro fits any condensate pipe installation, with specially designed UV/water resistant lagging, bond and seal adhesive.