Boiler controls - siting

[freddie]

My landlord has updated the (oil) central heating here. In their infinite wisdom the contractors put the programmer/control unit in the airing cupboard - where they had put the pump and motorised valves.

Trouble is - the boiler is on the ground floor next to the kitchen at the north end of the house. The airing cupboard is above it on the first floor. And yes - you guessed - the stairs are at the south end of the house...

So when we go away, come back or just need a boost of heating or hot water there is a 70 yards round trip to change the controls - and negotiating a flight of stairs in the process!

When I took this up with the landlord he said he hadn't done this for our benefit but 'for the benefit of those who come after you'.

The contractor said it was standard practice to put the controls in the airing cupboard. Is there no requirement for the controls to be near the boiler? It would certainly make it easier to sort out the faults they left in the system!

[Lobster]

No, it might be more convenient for the user but there's no safety issue involved so no requirement. Anyway, the boiler could easily be upstairs next to the airing cupboard (or even up in the roof space?!); then the obvious place for the controls would be downstairs somewhere, on their own.

The contractors will have positioned the controls in the location most convenient for fitting; presumably to have placed them where you wanted would have necessitated pulling up carpets, floors etc to lay new wiring between airing cupboard and boiler, and therefore way more expensive. (Nothing to do with 'benefit for those who come after you'!)

We have the same configuration at home, too, courtesy of the previous owners - one of these days I mean to sort it out but doubt I ever will, due to the upheaval.

David

[freddie]

Thanks David

In this installation the CH and DHW pipes came down to the old boiler. All that was needed was a straight boiler replacement, keeping the pump in the boiler and putting the controller and motorised valves nearby. Instead there was two days work replumbing it all in the airing cupboard - and of course with all the new joints a leak nearly brought the ceilings down after the contractors left!

No cost saving there, and we are lumbered with a clumsy system

[Ed Sirett]

You may not want to spend any money on your Landlords house...

...Did they install a wall thermostat? They should have done. There is no such thing as a simple boiler replacement (see Boiler Choice FAQ)

Anyway there is no reason why you couldn't replace the wall thermostat with a programmable unit or if the thermostat is in a bad place a wireless unit. As for the HW assuming that the HW cylinder has proper controls then leaving it on is no big loss unless you are away over night or more.

[freddie]

Thanks Ed and everyone else

They did fit a wireless room thermostat, although it seems to have a mind of its own.

Being an oil system (no gas in the area) and the rapidly rising price of oil, we are using off peak electricity to heat the HW at night, and only heating HW by oil if/when we run out at the end of the day - hence the inconvenience of having to run upstairs to hit the 'boost' button