Pex-Al-Pex heating pipe

Why choose plastic-aluminium pipe

Are you building or renovating a family house and thinking about renewing the pipework too? It's an investment that isn't visible at first glance, but if you don't want to tear up the bathroom or heating distribution shortly after moving into a new or renovated home, consider carefully choosing the right pipe material. In the long run, this will save you not only a lot of time and money, but also the headaches that a burst pipe can easily cause.

Advantages of Pex-Al-Pex pipes

Pipe for water, central heating or hot-water underfloor heating in family houses is usually installed as a combination of metal and plastic materials. The principle of underfloor heating is the flow of a heat-carrying medium through pipes, which then radiate heat into the interior. That is why careful selection of the underfloor pipe material is very important, with regard to its temperature and pressure resistance as well as other mechanical properties.

Plastic-aluminium pipes combine the properties of metal and plastic pipes, such as dimensional stability and pressure and heat resistance. They have a thinner wall and lower thermal expansion, which is particularly important on longer hot-water runs. Their lower bulk density, hygienic safety, and the fact that they do not corrode during their service life make them the number-one choice when selecting a pipe type. In addition, pipes made from these materials do not clog up, are flexible, resistant to limescale build-up, easy to handle, and hot water up to 95 °C can safely flow through them.

Multilayer pipe

A multilayer pipe consists of three basic layers:

• The inner layer made of cross-linked polyethylene, which comes into contact with the medium being carried as well as with the sealing ring of the press fitting, is important for achieving 100% joint tightness. Thanks to this material, limescale also does not build up.
• The middle aluminium layer, made of a solid, longitudinally welded aluminium foil 0.5 - 1.2 mm thick, ensures dimensional stability and reduces expansion movement.
• The outer protective and coloured layer is made of so-called high-density HDPE polyethylene, known as a thermoplastic.

The pipe also contains an internal oxygen barrier 0.2 mm thick, which prevents oxygen from penetrating into the heating system and thereby corroding the material in the heating circuit. The individual pipes are joined using brass screw or press fittings with the help of a crimping tool.

PEX-AL-PEX and hot-water underfloor heating

If you have decided on hot-water underfloor heating as the heating method for your home, you will probably be weighing up a wet or a dry system.

• In a wet system, made up of a screed, heating layer and insulation layer, you can choose between a high-profile and a low-profile underfloor polystyrene. We recommend combining both alternatives specifically with PEX-AL-PEX plastic-aluminium pipe.
• In dry systems, instead of a concrete screed, boards joined with adhesive and screws are placed over the area. In this case, the smaller length change of the aluminium-containing pipe under temperature changes will not bother you with noise.

Get advice from our specialists

Housing, and the choice of heating and its components that goes with it, is a decision that affects the quality and comfort of your home. Get advice from a team of experienced professionals who specialise in heating technology and continuously follow current trends in this field. Our goal is to give Atria SK customers enough information and alternatives for the right choice of individual components, so that they can always keep their property at the required temperature. Your satisfaction is our top priority. We would like to remind you that the customer support we offer does not end at the moment of sale.

Do not hesitate to consult us and choose the most suitable solution for your flat or house. Write to us at info@atria.sk.  

Frequently Asked Questions

• What does the designation PEX-AL-PEX mean? It is a multilayer (plastic-aluminium) pipe with an inner and outer plastic layer and a middle aluminium layer, which serves as an oxygen barrier.
• What pipe diameter should I choose? For underfloor heating, a diameter of 16-20 mm is most commonly used; for radiator heating and water distribution, larger diameters of 26-32 mm are also used.
• Can the pipe be bent without special tools? Yes, thanks to the aluminium layer the pipe holds its shape even after bending by hand, which makes installation easier.