RE: Boiler Locations

["Hawes,Timothy Edward (GEG)" <haweste@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Jim Noble  Sent: 26 May 2004 10:57
>
> > > -----Original Message-----
> > > From: Paul G. Watkin  Sent: 20 May 2004 14:58
> > >
> > > I would like to relocate the boiler to one of three
> locations I have
> > > identified
> > >
> > > 1)       The Garage - my old house had the gas boiler in
> the garage, do
> > > building Regs still allow this??
> >
> >
> > Hawes,Timothy Edward (GEG) wrote:
> >
> > I assume so, that's where I want to put mine when I extend our
place.
>
>
> Anyone got any idea how far apart your house and garage can
> be and have this work efficiently?

Hi Jim,

My garage is attached, although the pipes would run through an uninsulated
roof void (roof of a single storey extension), so the extra length of pipes
would be around 6m from where the boiler currently is. My top-the-head
guess is that this would still be ok. What distance are you thinking of ?

> Can you just bury the hot water pipes in some insulation?

Yes and No. If you're running pipes through uninsulated spaces you need to
carefully consider frost protection. If the system is operating then the
insulation will slow the rate of heat loss (thus making best use of the
boiler's heat), however if the system is turned off, then the insulation
will slow down the rate at which the pipes cool. And it is just a *slowing
down* of the cooling. Insulation alone will not prevent the pipes from
freezing if the ambient temperature is cold enough, and the system is off
for long enough. Heat tracing the lines (to provide additional heat input
to combat frost) is possible, but if you have a power cut, what powers the
heat tracing ?

IIRC, domestic water supplies must be buried to 16" (400mm) for two
reasons - the first is to limit the damage from digging etc. in the
vicinity, the second is to prevent pipes freezing. If you insulated (for
heat conservation), and buried your pipes to 16" (or whatever the
actual figure is) you could be reasonably confident your pipes wouldn't
freeze, but you'll also need to careful detailing of how / where the pipes
enter & leave the ground to avoid potential frost problems there.
Burying the pipes also introduces other problems such as draining &
venting those sections of pipe for maintenance etc.

I've just re-read all of that and it sounds a bit discouraging - it wasn't
supposed to be, but IMO there is more to consider than simply insulating.

Anyway, just my 2p :-)

Tim H.
(not a qualified gas fitter)

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