Hi, I am remodeling my basement. My plumber suggest I should change my 3" black iron heating pipes on my hot water heating system. They run across the hole basement and are about 6ft off the floor. He suggest 1" copper pipe. I currently don't have any leaks or any problems. It would just be done so I can gain more height to get a better finish. Is this practical, or the pipes I have are better then copper?

couple of things..
the system will be more efficient and it will heat up faster but the basement will be colder.
copper tubing with properly soldered fittings is a first class job. using the propress style fittings on heat pipes is (in my opinion) questionable.
one more thing...
depending on how many radiators and how they are situated, a home run piping job using pex is another option. (my preference)

What you have is a gravity system conversion. Your plumber needs to know the BTU carrying capacity of the 1" and the needs of the system. He also needs to understand the flow characteristics of gravity conversion, or you may be left with radiators that don't heat , at all.

paul, i've done a few of those. i use the boiler manifolds (1 1/4 x 1 inch outlets) reducing each outlet to either 3/4 for big radiators or 1/2 for small radiators. full port ball valves on everything for service (or leaks). feeds and return are fosta-pex. looks like spaghetti but they heat very quickly. homeowners always say they can't believe how long it used to take to get heat and how much faster it is now. the radiators also get hotter because there is so much less heat loss in the basement piping.

Agreed packy........You can use manifolds and flow controls. You can use zone valves, not necessarily to fire the boiler, but to keep bedrooms cooler. Your way offers a lot of options. I just wanted to make sure the OP understands that it's a little more involved than just replacing a pipe and raising it.

This is true. I will bring that up to him. I have a 2 story 3family. Every apt has 5 lg cast iron radiators.Most of the radiators are about 3oinchx10inchx36ft. bsmt has its own zone same boiler. I keep hearing these black pipes start getting pin holes. I'm would have him do it, just concern as far as value, don't want to depreciate my home. I guess its OK? I Went into some open houses and I see people are using the orange plastic pipes. what is better, copper or pex? any other tips I should look out for, make sure they installs when doing the job, I will appreciate.
Thank you all for the info.



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