Can I move my gas boiler outside?

[Steve H]

Hi everyone,

I have a Glow-worm room-sealed boiler ("Ultimate 60FF") which is using up valuable space in my small kitchen, which I am therefore hoping to move. A plumber friend of ours suggested it could be moved onto the outside wall of the house, enclosed in a waterproof wooden box, with a frost protection thermostat to prevent the unit getting too cold. This sounds like a good idea, though I have a couple of reservations, which I was hoping someone might be able to help with!

1. The boiler manual states that if the boiler is enclosed in a compartment, high and low level ventilation must be provided. If I do this, I'm guessing it will make the air temperature inside the box very cold in winter. During night-times (when the boiler would generally be timed off), would there be a danger of the frost protection thermostat turning on very frequently, and increasing my gas bills enormously?

1. If I ignore the Glow-worm recommendation of ventilating the box, and instead completely enclose the boiler, and add extra insulation (in order to keep the box as warm as possible in winter), would there then be a danger of the boiler getting too HOT in summer?

Any help anyone can provide would be greatly appreciated!

[Tony Bryer]

In principle I can't see why you can't do this, though I'd prefer the boiler inside. What happens if it fails during a spell of freezing weather?

At Interbuild I got a Worcester-Bosch mag which included tales from the field. On one warranty call the engineer was surprised by the boiler location. "But", said the householder, "the instructions said it had to go on an outside wall"

[Steve H]

He-he! Thanks for your reply Tony.

[mark_yh]

I would be wary of this. I have had the infamous problems on my Potterton Suprima which are supposedly caused by the pcb overheating. Boilers do kick out a lot of heat from the box directly (not just into the water), so any sort of insulated box might start causing expensive electrical problems.

[Steve H]

That's interesting to hear. Especially when Glow-worm told me there was no real upper limit to the air temperature the boiler could operate in

- I must admit, I was dubious at the time!. Thanks for the warning, Mark.

[TMC]

Many people are fitting boilers in the loft these days.

Is this a possibility?

Tony

[Steve H]

Cheers Tony - the loft could actually be an option - yes. I suppose my main concern would again be the fact in winter the loft gets pretty cold, and so the boiler would still need a frost protection thermostat: do you think this would add a lot to my gas bill, or would it be negligible?

[Dave Fawthrop]

|Cheers Tony - the loft could actually be an option - yes. I suppose my |main concern would again be the fact in winter the loft gets pretty |cold, and so the boiler would still need a frost protection thermostat: |do you think this would add a lot to my gas bill, or would it be |negligible?

Lofts also get stinking hot in the summer, worth checking that it will work at high temperatures.

[Steve H]

Thanks for your thoughts Dave - that's a good point about the loft getting hot. Definately something that would need investigation.

[Roger Mills]

How about this for an idea. Put the boiler in a fully-enclosed insulated box, but with some ventillation flaps that can be opened by a motor (or maybe just by air pressure) and have a thermostatically controlled fan which blasts air through it when it gets too hot.

[The3rd Earl Of Derby]

I cant believe you have nowhere else to site the boiler in the house?

ie under the stairs,bathroom,upstairs landing?

[PeTe33]

You could have one of those automatic greenhouse opening vent things to pop open a vent if temp got a bit warm perhaps?

[Brian Sharrock]

First: my boiler is 'outside'. Like you ; I didn't want to have the boiler in the kitchen occupying valuable real-estate in the small U-shaped room. The position of doors windows and hob meant we needed all the cabinet space we could accommodate. In my case the boiler is located in a former 'outside' toilet. The space is used to store garden tools as well as the boiler. provision of gas, electrics, gravity feed (28mm) pipes along with the CH 22mm pipes was 'merely' a question of drilling appropriate holes through the wall between the kitchen and the toilet. Second: AIUI, if the boiler is in the loft, safe access _must_ be provided for any serviceman you hire: these requirements include (but may not be limited to) a safe access ladder; Railing around the roof hatch, boarded footway to the boiler's location and natural daylight (Velux); { A near-neighbour went through this process} as well as a roof piercing exhaust pipe.

[Steve H]

Hi Roger - thanks for your thoughts. Those are pretty good ideas actually... if I did manage to achieve all this my boiler compartment would be a technological work of art!

[Steve H]

Hi Sir Benjamin! Frustratingly there are very few good locations for the boiler. Our understairs cupboard has no outside walls and is in the middle of the house, which means the flue would have to have lots of bends in it to get outside (against regulations?); the bathroom is also miniscule with a mirror and shower covering one wall and a large window covering the other; the landing has a large window on the only outside wall which might mean the flue was too close to it, plus the noise of the fan would be quite audible from the bedrooms at night. Conclusion - my house is annoying.

[Steve H]

Good idea Mark - I wasn't actually aware that such a thing existed. I'll look into it!

[Steve H]

'outside' toilet.

Hi Brian. Thanks for your reply. That's interesting... have you had any problems with the boiler being outside? Do you have a frost protection thermostat, and if so, do you find it kicks in a lot and makes a big difference to your gas consumption? And is the former-toilet ventilated so it does not get too hot?

for any serviceman you hire

Aahh - I wasn't aware of that. That makes a big difference to the viability of that option for us: there is no loft ladder, rail, or walkway, and the loft is very low.

[Steve H]

Sorry "Pet", just noticed I called you "Mark" in my previous post. Duhhh! Got a bit confused with the quoted replies.

[Brian Sharrock]

I can only infer that you're too young to have experienced 'outside toilets' ! :) Outside toilets have a door to the outside world, are unheated, and in my case has an opening window plus a airbrick. Ventilation is not a problem. The bolier itself is a closed case, system that takes combustion air from 'outside' and exhausts flue gases through a concentric duct. [AIUI, most 'room sealed' boilers are of this design.] A frost-stat should (IMHO) always be fitted to a system anyway - you may be away over the winter period.

[Steve H]

He-he, yes you are quite correct!

Thanks for your reply again Brian. Obviously I no idea how long ago it was you moved your boiler outside, but do you remember if your gas usage went up significantly because of the frost-stat clicking on more often than it would have done when your boiler was indoors?