Can I move my gas boiler outside?

[Jonathan Pearson]

Our boiler is almost outside - its in the old coal house which is quite exposed to the elements as it sticks out from the house and has its own uninsulated tile roof - the boiler was positioned there when we moved in - the only additional protection as far as I can see is that all the water pipes going to and from the boiler are lagged in tubular foam. I think the boiler (halsted combi - Electronic start - no pilot to blow out) is around

10-12 years old and have had no problem with it so far - however some of the components on the circuit board are rusty, but the appear to still work okay - I guess this may be due to condensation forming on the boards due to the large difference in temperatures it will have to cope with in winter when its switched on.

Jon

[Steve H]

Thanks for your comments Jonathan... hmm... I hadn't even considered condensation - that is worth taking into account, although it sounds like, in your case at least, it hasn't caused any major issues.

[Ian_m]

My mates got a boiler outside in his ex-outside loo. Only thing special is a

100W thermostatically controlled heater underneath it as frost protection. He got quotes about replacing it with a modern condensing boiler (to cut gas bills) but the fitters stated they couldn't fit a condensing boiler as no convenient condensate drain point that would be free from freezing. (the drain no longer exists in his outside loo). So freezing of condensate when outside is a point to consider.

[Steve H]

Hi Ian. Oh yeah - that's a very good point. My boiler is already 9 years old, so one day not too far away I'm probably going to have to replace it with a condensing boiler (as per current regs). So if there is a particular issue with installing condensing boilers outdoors that could create a serious obstacle to my plans! Cheers for your thoughts.

[Tony Bryer]

My mother's Keston is installed in a conservatory-type structure with quite a long condensate drain. The only requirement was that the outside part had to be larger diameter - I used 42mm sink waste.

Quite a number of boilers have a urinal cistern type trap that stores up the water and then releases in one go, rather than a drip=drip-drip which would be more likely to freeze.

[Bob Martin]

My gas boiler is in an external brick lean-to on the north wall of the house. It was built that way in 1936. The boiler is 24 years old and still going strong (I replaced an oil boiler with gas in 1982).

[Steve H]

Hi Bob. Wow - 24 years! So, being outside certainly hasn't done YOUR boiler any harm. Can you think of any reason why a boiler might be more happy in a brick lean-to than a small wooden box?

[Bob Martin]

Sorry, Steve, I don't think I'm qualified to answer that, but our boiler does have a frost protection switch.