Is Copper the Best Metal for Plumbing?

Copper is a favourite metal among machinists, plumbers and other industrial professionals. This metal has been used for at least ten thousand years and historians believe that only iron and gold were used as functional metals before ancient peoples discovered copper. Copper’s natural colour is red, though over time, with prolonged exposure to oxygen, copper can turn green.

Professionals in the plumbing and heating industries have been using copper for their pipes and for a number of the electrical devices that help operate the heating and plumbing systems the professionals create. While copper has been used commonly for almost a century, copper miners have recently begun raising the price of the metal out of fear that the world’s available copper supply will not meet the demand.

Copper tubing is the most reliable transport mechanism for water in the United Kingdom and in recent years it has also been used to house the transport of natural gas. The “quality standard” in the heating and plumbing industry in the UK is copper and there is not one single building code that forbids the metal’s use. This metal is durable and strong and can protect the health of humans and larger organisms by hindering the growth of bacteria on its surface.

In terms of applications in domestic plumbing, copper is one of the most versatile. Copper carries water and natural gas well while standing up to corrosion and deterioration. Many companies offer a fifty year warranty on copper piping because the business owners understand that copper is not likely to break down or become damaged.

In the UK, heating industry professionals have agreed that radiant heating systems are the best household heating systems that one can install in a house. Copper is the best material this underfloor heating. Copper pipes do not pose any risk of leakage or endangering the structural integrity of a home. UK homeowners have begun installing underfloor heating because it is the most efficient method of heating one’s house and it is the most cost effective.

Copper has also had great success in air conditioners and refrigeration units because it distributes coolness as easily as it does warmth. Copper has done a great deal to lengthen the lifetime of cooling units as well as increasing the units’ effectiveness.

Finally, copper has a reputation for being “green.” The metal lasts for decades and easily recycled. Copper can also help people fight diseases while increasing their resistance to high cholesterol levels and coronary heart disease.

Tal Potishman, editor of Heating Central, writes articles about central heating sysetms, boilers, plumber Macclesfield, underfloor heating and solar thermal. He specializes in helping save money by advising on efficient heating.