I am at some point in the next few months going to install a oil CH system to my house I know I am fully capable of doing this myself but what regs do I have to observe and can I infact legally do all the work myself
We installed our own oil fired CH, including the boiler. The boiler instructions were quite detailed regarding flue siting etc, I suspect most boilers will come with similar instructions.
The boiler came with free commissioning by a Grant technician. He came round after the boiler had been running for 6 months, checked the flue gas, tweaked the oil flow, then went away.
Overall it was a very straightforward job. One thing I'll say - the boiler goes very well with our heatbank system. You get nice long clean burns, with no cycling.
You can install any boiler yourself, if you are competent to do so. However, without registration with a trade body, you are unable to complete the building regulation documentation and will need to submit an application (and fee) with the building control department of your council, who should inspect the system and issue documents.
The inspection might not be particularly onerous, though, as it is mainly to comply with energy efficiency regulations (and oil storage leakage), rather than safety ones. They'll be wanting to see cylinder thermostats and zone valves, rather than correctly adjusted burner assemblies. Therefore, only fit yourself if you are certain you know what you are doing.
A common middle ground is to install the boiler yourself, but get a registered bod in to connect to the gas/oil, check the flue and sign the docs.
Christian.
Yes and no. You can't self-certify a new oil storage installation. You have to submit a building notice and get the BCO to inspect it.
Then you usually have to get a oftec registered bloke to commission the boiler to comply with the manufacturer's warranty.
BTW I've just done this. I showed the BCO the boiler and the oil pipe run although I think it was just the oil tank position that he was interested in. A gray area though as the position of the flue is a BCO responsibility (I showed it on my plans), not sure about the oil run. Oftec bloke should ask to see BCO signed off before he will commission but mine wasn't bothered.
The oftec web site,
If you don't want condensing then you have until April 2007 to install it. It case anyone wonders why I didn't want condensing it's because I wanted to wall mount, less disruptive installation for me, and my flue points towards my neighbours so smelly wet oil fumes did not seem the best for good relations. Plus, since condensers are at least GBP
+200 and would only save me 20-40 quid pa it did not seem worth it. Best standard oil boiler is 85.7% (a capped value) and condensers 90-95%.
What I am wondering is whether I will still be able to buy a non condensing oil fired boiler next year, so that I can install it in the summer of 2006?
Are non condensing gas boilers still generally available?
The rules allow for fitting non-condensing boilers in some circumstances so you should still be able to get gas nc even after april and of course oil is not until 2007 so those should readily be available.
On the oil front HRM only does nc boilers so I would expect them to hold out for some time (they're rather anti condensing for oil).
Absolutely but you will need to hurry if you want to go down the gas route ! However with oil you can buy whichever model you like from any good suppliers and install in 2006 when you decide to. The standards you need to install to can be found via OFTEC. Take a look at their website. You will need to have it commissioned by an approved person and it will come under building regs requirements. Have you a particular avoidance of the installation of an oil fired condenser apart from it being "new technology" as there are a number available for oil now. Trianco would be a good place to start your investigations. The difference in cost for a completely new installation against payback time is likely to work in your favour rather than trying to justify a swap on efficiency grounds later.
One problem with condensing boilers is what you do with the condensate. I am not connected to mains drains. I just don't know what impact the condensate would have on my current arrangements. I would not like to disrupt whatever biological processes are taking place.
I found quite a nice wall mounted oil boiler which would work with a conventional flue. (Boulter Buderus Camray 6 50/70). Being wall mounted it would fit in the alcove under the flue, and not jut out into the kitchen like my current Trianco boiler.
The savings from using a condensing boiler are not that great, maybe increae the efficiency from 85% to 95%. - Though the price of all has gone up.
Yes. Do not put it in a septic tank. And if you are a farm you cannot put the condensate in the land so the only option appears to be to collect it in special plastic tanks and then try to have these collected since you can't bury them anymore.
Trianco also do a wall mounted unit, in fact they do two - an internal "on the wall" model and an internal "in the wall" model. As with all boilers the use of conventional flueing is to be discouraged as room sealed is safer from a fume point of view and shows less wind direction/pressure problems. However all wall mounted boilers suffer from having to lift oil up from the tank which places additional strain on the fuel pump, a problem which does not arise with floor mounted boilers. Boulter used to be considered the bees-knees of oil boilers when the firm was still under ownership of its founder. It was said that if anyone phoned for technical advice it was sometimes possible to end up speaking to the great man himself, but since those halcyon days the accountants seem to have taken over and the company has been through a few sets of hands. (IMHO)
In article , John writes
Do the pumps fail earlier on wall mounted ones then John? 22sec Kerosene is not exactly a viscous liquid, are the pumps the same for floor and wall mounted?
I'm on my second Boulter having had them recommended in the past, can't say I have ever had a problem, I was advised against Trianco as being cheap and nasty and certainly a neighbour had continuous trouble with his
I've just put in a HRM wallstar, a through the wall, wall mounted oil boiler. Servicing is done from outside. HRM were recommended to me. I've phoned their tech support with lots of questions (in the planning stage) and always got through quickly and had my questions answered.
My experience with worcester-bosch is completely the reverse. Very poor support, long phone queues, questions not answered. I'd started out going for the danemoor since it was an easier retro-fit. In the end I decided that easier retro-fit was not the best criteria since danemoor had worse warranty, worse support, and no one recommended it! The HRM heat exchanger is also a lot heavier than danemoor so I'd expect a longer life (which is supported by the long guarantee for the wallstar and lack of one for the danemoor).
Isn't this a bit OTT? I thought that boiler condensate was only about the same acidity as vinegar and a boiler produces ? a couple of gallons a week. I would have thought that the urine produced by one cow would be of far more significance in the overall scheme of things?
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Its (28 second BTW) a "thin" fairly volatile fluid which cavitates quite easily in the pump. (Cavitation is one of the banes of a process engineers life.) I would say the number of pump problems I find on wall mounted boilers compared with floor standing ones runs at about three to one but thats a judgement so I couldn't produce hard figures at the moment.
I presume his continuous trouble will come down to either installation, or the burner of which all the manufacturers use standard ranges which are bought in, although some buy in enough to encourage the actual burner maker to rebadge for the boiler. Trianco are using (at present) Riello/RDB burners with some monoflames on their wall mounted units. The advice you have received I anticipate to have been a personal comment by someone who had made a personal judgement but I wouldn't agree with this statement when considering the presently produced range of boilers. In fact at one stage Trianco and Boulter got into bed together and their models became very similar in most respects. Early Trianco wall mounted centrajets were on the other hand "nowt but trouble" usually because of fuel/fuel pump troubles, The final connection to the fuel pumps were made using flexible braided rubber hoses which had a habit of cracking (invisibily) under the braid and air entrainment in the fuel upset everything. A pair of hoses every couple of years went a long way towards avoiding this aspect. Prsent day "Continuous trouble" suggests to me a lack of competence on the part of the maintainer (with due regard to taking a bit of time to determine the actual fault rather than symptom) or an unwillingness to bite the bullet and fix the basic problem. Having said all that I do prefer to install Firebird floor standing boilers if given the option as they are IMHO the best floor standing unit around for the money. They usually are fitted with Riello/RDB burners which I like from a maintainability aspect and the build/finish is of a high standard.
Does this lead to a screaming noise?
What symtpoms did this give? That is the sort of problem that as a DIY person I am not going to solve very easily! Where these the 'normal' braided hoses such as you might in buy in a place that sells oil CH parts?
Yes. Would you care me to post you all the other DEFRA OTT stuff (available only in non-polluting glossy paper format despite them having my e-mail address) that pops through my letterbox each week ?
It is okay for a cow to stand pssing all day in the stream feeding the local reservoir (I'm on a spring :-) but the slightest hint of anything man-made reaching this stream has me in line for about a £20k fine.
Except when it comes to dead animals. If the animal dies of it's own accord it has to be removed and burnt elsewhere whereas if I kill it I can bury it on the land. Lots of horses are 'killed' in their last moments so that they can be buried where their owners want. It isn't just Prescott who's totally insane.
It can be described as a scream although a rattle is more my desciption. A scream is more the sound of a dry(ish) pump.
SNIP
The most common symptom is failure to ignite before locking out at first start in the morning or afternoon but then run until the next rest period. Cause being allowing the fuel to drain back down past a weak N/R valve in the pipeline. The first attempt lifts the fuel to the pump and after a reset (or two) fuel reaches the pump and all is "well" until it getsw time to drain back again. A rattling noise is next followed by a shriek as the pump runs on froth then air before finally dying. The progression of this can be seen with a pressure gauge and the pump being unable to maintain a steady pressure. Yes the usual silvery braid covered rubber hoses. It is possible to buy "long-life" hoses now which improves the situation slightly. Also avoid cheapo oil pumps and use Danfoss BFP type
Have you or a neighbour got/had a WM Centrajet then?
Thanks for your reply.
No.
My Trianco TRO 15/19 Boiler uses a Bentone Electro Oil burner and Danfoss pump.
Sometimes it runs fine, sometimes its a bit rough, and sometimes the flame goes out. When this happens the igniters start and the flame relights. The pump is about 1 year old, the jet is a few weeks old. I did try a smaller jet running at a higher pressure but this has not solved the problem. The pump pressure (when I fit a guage) is constant.
I am trying to discover why I get this problem. A small amount of air in the oil could possibly be the explanation.
I have a two pipe oil system (largely for historical resaons) though this is not really necesary. When the tank is empty the level of oil in the tank may be below the level of the pump. The problem occurs with a full tank. Last summer I did my best to make sure that there is no water in the tank.
I use two 18" flexible hoses which must be 3-4 years old. I might just change the one on the flow from the tank.
SNIP
I would strongly advise you to replace both flow and return flexes. It is always possible for the air to be drawn in to the return hose and allow oil displacement back through the pump:-(
My HRW wallstar (single pipe system) has a clear plastic flexible pipe to the burner. I found this very useful when I installed it as you could see bubbles. Just a case then of find the joint that was leaking (the last one I looked at and not one mine :-/).
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