Boiler Position

My brother-in-law has a traditional system boiler (not room sealed) with the flue fed into a chimney stack that also contains the unused flue from the living room. The building is a chalet bungalow (with loft conversion) with numerous windows and nowhere on an outside wall to hang a new boiler except high on the gable ends which would be (to say the least) extremely inconvenient (and even that might fall foul of the flue near window exclusion zone).

The boiler is getting old and he has been told by the firm that services it that any replacement *must* be a condensing boiler and that the replacement *must not* use the chimney. I haven't taken much notice of developments over recent years but ISTR recent discussion that said that lack of suitable position could make a non condensing boiler a legitimate replacement.

I am not sure why the chimney should be a no-no these days. Is it due to the difficulty of fitting a condensate drain or some other reason that as yet hasn't occurred to me? If it is just verboten for condensing boilers I presume that a replacement non condensing boiler could continue to use the existing flue subject to modern safeguards. (I am not sure whether or not it is actually lined but I presume it is as the house was built as late as 1968).

Reply to
roger
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"roger" wrote | My brother-in-law has a traditional system boiler (not room | sealed) with the flue fed into a chimney stack that also | contains the unused flue from the living room. ... | The boiler is getting old and he has been told by the firm | that services it that any replacement *must* be a condensing | boiler and that the replacement *must not* use the chimney. | I haven't taken much notice of developments over recent years | but ISTR recent discussion that said that lack of suitable | position could make a non condensing boiler a legitimate | replacement.

Correct about exemptions on grounds of positioning. See the thread "Condensing boilers rule?" starting at

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Andy Hall posted a link to
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on both efficiency and safety grounds an open-flued boiler is undesirable. Andy Hall posted a nice summary in the thread "condensing boiler flue" at
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(Those links are to the old version of googlegroups.)

Owain

Reply to
Owain

There's nothing stopping you sticking a modern condensing boiler's flue up a chimney, besides the difficulties involved in any bends in the flue and terminating the top without expensive scaffolding. If you go this route, choose a boiler with a "drainpipe" flue option, such as a Celcius 25, amongst others. These are far cheaper and more flexible than conventional concentric flue extension pieces.

Obviously, you do need the condensate drain. Only you know the layout enough to know if a drain is feasible.

Another alternative is to go straight up from a convenient location straight through the roof. My boiler is in the loft with such an arrangement, as putting it through the chimney stack seemed like too much hassle.

Christian.

Reply to
Christian McArdle

The message from "Christian McArdle" contains these words:

Thanks.

If it is on the first floor then there would be less flue to worry about being straight but would still have to break in from the side so would require a rightangle elbow within the flue. Doesn't look too promising to me even before I establish whether it is the boiler flue of the living room fire flue behind the adjacent (plastered) brickwork.

The joists run the right way for an easy run through the floor void on the first floor at least and I think the joists run the same direction in the kitchen should it be possible to shoehorn a boiler into the original position for the cf boiler but that would involve a very long vertical flue.

It being a chalet bungalow straight out sideways would also go through the roof and with a 45 degree pitch roof that wouldn't seem to make much difference to the seal as it goes through the roof. It is however at the front of the house so don't know weather the planners might get uppity.

Both potential upstairs positions would be on interior stud walls but the one remote from the chimney (ie flue out through the roof) would probably be better and both are reasonably close to the existing pipework.

Reply to
roger

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