A plumin' nuisance...

I've just paid £1800 for a Corgi-installed new boiler - Baxi HE 100/2. By mutual agreement, we followed tradition and put it the same place as the previous one* (concentric flue goes straight thru the wall). Two days later I've come to realise the pluming might be a problem.

The house is a terrace with the flue terminal about mid-way down the external side wall (upstairs). The boundary that the flue is pointing at is

1.90 M away, I understand that since April 2005 the permitted min clearance is 2.5m. So as I understand it the Corgi engineer should have done something like fit a deflector when fitting in this location. Obviously with the old boiler there was no plume at all, and I wonder how many other people will get caught out with this?.

Apart from the April regs, at times the very tail end of the plume seems to swirl around the end wall and mine + next doors windows (at 90degr to the flue, about 3m away). The property opposite has had a condenser in pretty much the same location for a few years, but was fitted before the new regs and (being of older, less efficient vintage) doesn't seem to chuck out as much steam (maybe it isn't fan assisted).

I wanted to ask how big/ugly a (Baxi) flue deflector will be, and (without doing anything drastic internally like moving the boiler or sending the flue through the roof) if there are any better fixes?.

Thanks, Egremont

  • BTW If anyone remembers my earlier topic, the Thorn Medway multipoint is finally gone. R.I.P
Reply to
Egremont
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Is this just for swapping the boiler, or was other work also done?

How long did it all take?

.=2E. Google --> "Plumbing Courses"... Google --> "CORGI Registration"... Google --> "Luxury Yachts"...!

Reply to
Matt Beard

AFAIK, all condensing boilers have a fan. Neither are releasing steam

- what you see is water vapour. Age of boiler doesn't seem to have a bearing on how much pluming there is - we have seen examples here the opposite way around. It doesn't directly impact efficiency either since the gain from condensing happens as the water changes phase from steam to liquid and latent heat is released. This happens inside the boiler. By the time you see what you are describing as "steam", it is actually visible water droplets.

However, none of this helps the problem.

Another option could be to use the twin flue arrangement. If you look at the brochure on the Baxi web site, it is described. This provides for two 80mm pipes rather than the 110mm concentric. While bigger than some boilers (which can use 50mm high temperature waste pipe, perhaps you could route this in some way inconspicuously and come out of the building at a different place. It is possible to go some distance with this (40m equivalent), and Baxi give the amounts to reduce this by for bends etc.

Reply to
Andy Hall

Can't you just put a T or an elbow on the end of the flue ? A 'T' might be a no go with it being concentric but an elbow should be ok

Regards Jeff

Reply to
Jeff

I would have agreed, but... Have a friend who has recently become Corgi registered, and self employed, and the overheads are considerable. If everything is done legitimately, it's not *quite* the licence to print money that it first appears. Nearly though ;) :)

Lee

Reply to
Lee
£1880 inc VAT (Midlands), basically brick up old flue-hole, install boiler and connect up to primaries, 1 man + 2 junior assistants about 1 + 1/8 day each on site. The boiler itself costs
Reply to
Egremont

Perhaps a 45 degree one pointing upwards and away. Probably a lot will depend on the wind around the building.

Keep in mind also, that current weather is about the worst case. It's cold, dry and fairly still, so there generally is going to be more plume than at other times.

Reply to
Andy Hall

One of the major concerns must be if the neighbour complains to the council.

If they fidn it wasn't isntalled to regulations they may make you rip it all out and start again.

sponix

Reply to
sPoNiX

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