Along with hundreds of other people i'm sure, what with the weather and all, my boiler condensate pipe, which is an external run of about
2ft of 32mm pipe is freezing on a daily basis. As i am totally fed up with wielding a hair drier, 20ft up a ladder, I've decided the only solution is
a) Get the pipe rerouted to have a much greater fall to alternative drain b) Get a trace heater fitted to the pipe, because i think it will still freeze.
Pipe was blocked completely today so am worried boiler will get damaged.
Can anyone recommend someone in the Stockport area please that they think could do a good job and for a reasonable price. I have heard British Gas do something of this nature but i expect the price might be a little unreasonable.
They were talking to a plumber on local radio today who said 40 mm condensate pipes were freezing. It would appear that a lot of people are going to regret having condensing boilers this year (or at least external drains).
It shouldn't be possible to damage a boiler just because the condensate drain gets blocked. Unless you count it freezing due to it being inoperable.
You can delay the onset of freezing by installing insulation.
Fit a HepVo trap internal, using high temp 32mm plastic pipe and pushfit elbows. All allowed now. You can also run the pressure discharge pipe into the trap as well. Some run the discharge into the trap and tee in after the trap with the condensate pipe.
If no place for a drain, use a condensate pump and pump the condensate via a
In a couple of weeks with the thermostat set at a frost protection level, the backed up condensate oozed out of the boiler condensate trap and flooded the room the boiler was in, and the adjacent room.
It eventually stopped the boiler (unknown reason but it started again once the condensate drained out of the combustion chamber), in a few days the house would have had frozen pipes all over.
Insulation - even a few inches of celotex in a box over the drain with all the pipework inside appears to have made bugger all difference in the conditions this year.
Despite 17 - 21 deg C internal temps in the house and a very short run outside I was still getting slugs of ice forming, the drain trap water is close to zero and the condensate was the only thing that was keeping it clear, the water was freezing in a vertical stack from the outlet of the pipe to the surface of the drain.
If you can't route to an internal stack then trace heating appears to be the only solution that really works, I installed some the other day, it took half an hour with a few tyraps, a bit of bubble wrap. I also did the adjacent outside tap as that had frozen solid and was compromising the cold feed in the kitchen. I boxed the outlet and the top of the drain in with insulation and with -10 deg C outside its 20 deg C in the area above the drain and the condensate is flowing freely. I'm rerouting mine to an internal stack when I get the chance though.
My comment was purely related to the boiler type not the means of disposal of the combustion by-products
50 quid or more for a condensate pump
23 quid for a HepVo valve xx for associated plumping and electrical modifications Possibly running to many hundreds of pounds, with disturbance to floors to run pipes and cables.
Or in my case A very short length (0.5m) of 32mm waste pipe, a 21.5mm overflow to
32mm adaptor, and a 32mm boss to connect to soil stack - less than a fiver.
Or as a short term rapid fix
Some scrap trace heating, a few tyraps and some scrap PIR insulation - very much less than a fiver.
HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here.
All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.