Heating system - how much space needed?

[Anna Kettle]

I'm about to install a loft ladder so I can get into my attic easily and it would be just great if I can fit both the loft ladder and (eventually) the new heating/water system without having to move any of my old heating/water system for the time being

I've not yet done any planning of the the new heating/water system beyond thinking that it will be a mains pressure system suitable for a three bedroom two bathroom house

The space I'd like it to go into is a triangular gable end which when floored will be 2300mm wide, 1150mm high in the centre and 1100mm deep

Can anyone tell me if this is likely to be a big enough space for my new system?

I hope so, cos otherwise I will have to find somewhere else for the loft ladder thougb I suppose that is better than fitting it and then deciding later that it will have to be moved

Anna

~~ Anna Kettle, Suffolk, England |""""| ~ Lime plaster repairs / ^^ \ // Freehand modelling in lime: overmantels, pargeting etc |____|

01359 230642

[Andy Hall]

I think that the height could be a problem, Anna.

If you want the boiler to go up there, then you will need to check height carefully, including flue.

If you are going to go for a combi boiler and have it suitable for 2 bathrooms, it's a push anyway, but larger capacity ones tend to be quite big.

An alternative could be a heatbank, but including a built in header tank, is going to be higher if of reasonable capacity.

It may be doable, but your choices may become quite restricted.

The other thing to watch for is whether there is enough height above the loft ladder to lift and move things in.

If you are going to plan it this way, I think some careful research is needed now. Is there another place with greater height where at least a cylinder could go?

[Anna Kettle]

Thanks Andy

Thanks for your comments Andy. Not the answer I wanted, but I must have had suspicions or I wouldn't have posted here. There are several other places I could put a cylinder. Does it need to be close to the boiler? The trouble with all the other places I have thought of so far is that they all have their own defects :)

Ah well, I'll put the loft ladder on the back boiler (so to speak) while I get up to speed on heating systems. Time to inspect the FAQ I think

Anna

~~ Anna Kettle, Suffolk, England |""""| ~ Lime plaster repairs / ^^ \ // Freehand modelling in lime: overmantels, pargeting etc |____|

01359 230642

[Aidan]

If you could get an unvented system that's short enough, you might put two in parallel. You'd still have to have two lots of safety devices (pressure relief, T&P relief valves, discharge pipes, etc., etc..) and they should/must be serviced annually, so this could have high maintenance costs. Probably a last resort solution.

I've seen unvented systems installed in an enclosure constructed at top floor level, in the space over the stairwell. You have to have 6.5ft ish headroom over the stairs at the lower levels, but the space in the stairwell at top floor level is usually wasted. Probably impractical for listed building dwellers.

You also need to minimize the distance for the discharge pipe from the

2 relief valves' ; it needs to be fairly direct. The pipe size increases with it's length and the number of elbows. You can wind up with a 54mm copper pipe on the outside of the building or it could be impractical.

[Andy Hall]

I think that you could probably squeeze a system boiler like a Keston Celsius in there without too much problem if that helps with locating things. You do have to have boarded area and handrails if the boiler goes in the loft, because a fitter working on it is doing so at a workplace and health and safety rules apply. One thing with this type of boiler, and there are others with similar arrangements, is that the flue is or can be organised with twin 50mm plastic high temperature waste pipe and run over 20m or more. This may offer you more fitting options.

You don't have to position cylinders close to the boiler at all and unlike the old days when gravity type cylinders which relied on the cylinder having some height above the boiler, you can even locate it below the boiler location and some way away if it helps.

[The Natural Philosopher]

Ive got my unvented tank in the roof, bang next to a chimney under the ridge, where there is height.

Boiler is at ground level due to it being oil, and needing some semblance of gravity feed...

all works fine, except dowsntairs hot water has a long way to go, and takes time to come through.

[Owain]

"Anna Kettle" wrote | There are several other places I could put a cylinder. Does it need | to be close to the boiler?

Provided you have big-enough and well-insulated-enough pipes you can have the boiler in a separate building. You want the cylinder(s) close to the point of use of hot water.

Owain

[Anna Kettle]

Thanks everyone for your comments. What with them and the FAQ and heatwen.com I have just had a fun evening reading up on heating systems. The outcome is that no way will I fit a suitably sized standard thermal store in the allocated space. There is a 'lying on its side' version available at a price, but before resorting to that I will cudgel my brains to think up another place with more headroom to put the thermal store. I suspect my system might end up looking remarkably like NP's

On the bright side, having removed half the heating system there is now plenty of room for the loft ladder

Anna ~~ Anna Kettle, Suffolk, England |""""| ~ Lime plaster repairs / ^^ \ // Freehand modelling in lime: overmantels, pargeting etc |____|

01359 230642