Combi in a cupboard in the bathroom ?

with the gas feed running up the outside of the house.

is it legal ?

situation:

sime halstead running c/h and has been for a while with no problems but the dhw supply is way below par. dhw is currently supplied by an immersion heater in the bathroom. sime halstead currently in ground flor utility room at the back of the house.

plan:

strip out immersion and cold water tank and install smallest, cheapest combi boiler in a newly built cupboard to feed bathroom hot water and kitchen which is situated directly below the bathroom.

are there any legal issues with running a gas pipe up the outside of a house or siting a combi in a cupboard in a bathroom ?

many thanks for any advice

RT

Reply to
R Taylor
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Yes, as long as it is metal pipe and protected from corrosions and damage (cars backing into it, etc)

A small combi will give poor flowrates. Small combi's are great for showers. If you do mainly showers and the odd bath, then a small combi is fine.

see above.

No problem, as long as any electrical switches, or equipment is not reachable by wet hands.

Reply to
IMM

Great for showers and slow baths occasionally. If you want high flowrates then a high flowrate combi is the way. Or buy two multipoints and couple them up (still saves space), but you may be exceeding your gas supply then.

Reply to
IMM

my bad, pre coffee post.

we're actually hoping to fit a multipoint water heater, not a combi.

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for any advice

Reply to
R Taylor

No. That's fine. Ensure it is fanned flue and requires no cabinet ventilation. There are plenty available within those restrictions. You must run the entire central heating system off an RCD.

Christian.

Reply to
Christian McArdle

Yes - quite a common solution these days...

When you say DHW is "way below par" what do you mean? Poor flow rate? not hot enough?

The only observation I would make is that the "smallest cheapest" combi (or multipoint) is also likely to offer poor hot water performance by design.

Reply to
John Rumm

That's the way to go. If you're selling the house, you'd never make your money back installing a decent hot water system when it is so cheap to install a combi!

Christian.

Reply to
Christian McArdle

Thanks for the replies, both.

after a quick search of the groups (duh) I'd sort of got to the bottom of the problem.

the DHW flow rate is fine but the chap I got the boiler off said that the temperature was lame and wouldn't fill a bath (?he's a plumber?) anyways, in the past I've found that to fill a bath off a crappy combi all you had to do is only turn the tap on so far (water runs slower through boiler=higher temp) and wait an age for the bath to fill.

Thankfully, I've just had a phonecall from 'long time ago fallen out with' future brother in law who's an ace plumber and who's agreed to do all the plumbing & gas jobs we need doing and he can start the job in just 4 weeks.

according to future brother in law the poor heat from the DHW side of our 'crap' combi should'nt be a problem for a few reasons: we're having a shower fitted, we have a dishwasher and we're selling the house when this load of work is finished "so, do you really care ? " :-)

turned out nice, again

RT

Reply to
R Taylor

I'd have to check, but you might get away with it if the cabinet requires tools (i.e. a screwdriver) to remove the door. However, I'm not 100% certain on this point.

Christian.

Reply to
Christian McArdle

Is there a regulation that says it needs to be on an RCD ? I can see that it would make sense, but as it's hardwired and in a cupboard, is it actually a requirement now? I've never seen it done, nor an RCD on an electric immersion heater in similar circumstances.

Reply to
Mike Harrison

Zone 1 relates to the space above and below but not in the bath. There is a reference to the space under the bath being in Zone 1 if tools are not required to open it. 601-02-01

601-09-02 talks about fixed current using equipment. Apart from shower pumps and water heaters, it allows other equipment that can only be used reasonably in that zone to be fitted under the bath if a 30mA RCD is used, This would not apply here, since you would not fit a combi under the bath, I think.

The argument that would apply here would be to make the cupboard outside zones (> 3m from bath) by requiring a tool to unlock it, but I can't see a specific rule permitting it.

However, according to 601-09-03, a fixed current using water heater may be installed even in zone 2 (next to bath) if it is suitable for installation in that area. I am dubious that a combi boiler would be suitably rated with the appropriate IPX4 coding.

.andy

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Reply to
Andy Hall

So it's probably quicker to fit an RCD than wade through the regulations.... fair enough!

Reply to
Mike Harrison

Be careful. RCD does not automatically let you off the hook on other regulations.

.andy

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Reply to
Andy Hall

You could also use a non-condensing boiler, with the exhaust going through the bath, which would be very efficient. There is the small matter that you wouldn't need a second bath.

Reply to
Ian Stirling

Surveyors for house purchasers appear to frown on any kind of gas appliance in a bathroom. This has been an issue in 2 properties I've been involved with.

Reply to
BillV

This is probably becasue they have heard rightly that some gas applainces can't be fitted in bathrooms. Since they don't/can't know which these might be they simply mention the fact as a possible problem.

Reply to
Ed Sirett

The appliances were in fact quite ok in my opinion but the negative comments of the surveyors tended to put buyers off or they use it as a reason to beat the price down.

Reply to
BillV

Given the thousands that might be lost thus. It might be better to get an inspection report from a registered installer.

Reply to
Ed Sirett

Which appliances and for what reason, Ed? Seems to me the sensible place since it's the one room in the house that's rarely too warm. Assuming you have the space, of course.

Reply to
Dave Plowman (News)

There is an absolute prohibition on all open flued appliances. In practice this is no prohibition at all since the only open flued appliances anyone is likely to fit will be gas fires.

The wiring regs have much more impact on the matter in practice.

Ed.

Reply to
Ed Sirett

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