How to make your heating system installs easier using channel

Heating system installations can involve a lot of pipework, all of which needs to be adequately supported and fixed to the building surface. If you usually fix your pipe clips to the wall using individual backplates, you might want to consider looking at what small profile channel can offer to make this kind of install a little bit easier.

What difference can channel make?

Using a small profile channel can offer some great benefits over fixing your pipe clips individually to the wall. And it doesn’t have to cost the Earth!

Here are some of the key benefits of using a small profile channel:

• Helps you complete the installation faster – When you have multiple rows of pipes it is quicker and easier to fix one length of channel to the wall to hold multiple clips than measuring out and drilling lots of holes to fix individual back plates to mount every clip separately.
• Easy alignment and adjustment – Using a length of channel makes it easier to line up your clips and makes any adjustments much easier and neater. All you need to do is simply reposition the channel nut rather than removing individual clips from the wall and re-drilling new positions.
• Strong and reliable support – Using channel provides a much stronger and more reliable support than individual backplates.
• Using pre-assembled chanel nuts makes the job much less fiddly – Walraven’s RapidRail® channel nuts (Hammerfix) are fully pre-assembled including stud lengths and simply push-twist into the channel. They slide to allow easy positioning and can then be tightened. Loosen and adjust if required. The pipe clip is then screwed directly on. Saving time drilling holes, screwing in the backplate, attaching the stud then screwing in the pipe clip.

What small profile channel options are there?

The most common channel profiles on the market are 41×41 and 41×21. Both of these profiles however, are larger than is required for these kinds of installations. They use a lot of steel making them expensive alongside the preassembled nuts that fit them.

However, Walraven’s RapidRail® channel is a very cost-effective alternative to using standard strut channel sizes (both41x41 and 41×21). It is a 30×20 profile so is much lighter and uses much less steel, and it has been load tested in various configurations to evidence its suitability for these kinds of installations.

Will Walraven RapidRail® make my installations more expensive?

The parts are likely to cost a little more than using backplates, but not as much as you might think! We did a price comparison for installing 2 rows of 12 pipe clips on a wall (prices at January 2023, prices can vary across suppliers).

• Cost of 12 backplates with 35mm stud section at JPL Direct £1.48 each
• Total price: £17.76 (inc VAT)

VS

• Cost of 2m Walraven RapidRail® small profile channel (30×20) at JPL Direct £11.35
• Cost of 12 hammerfix (pre-assembled nut with stud lengths) M10 with 25mm stud at JPL £8.04
• Total price: £19.39 (inc VAT)

This shows it can be as little as £1.63 more expensive to use Walraven RapidRail® system. But when you also consider that you should also be able to complete the job quicker and easier, you might consider it to be worth it.

Why not give it a try?

If you want to give it a try you can purchase RapidRail® easily online from one of our major stockists JPL Direct (mentioned in the price comparison above) or Trentside Fixings (another major stockist).

Williams Plumbing Merchants also stock RapidRail® in their branches or you can purchase from their website.

Still not convinced? Read some installer testimonials.