Can I put my Baxi boiler in a cupboard?

Fluella

I've recently bought my first home with my bf, and we have a white Baxi boiler on the wall in the middle of our kitchen. My bf has come up with the idea of boxing the boiler in to make it look as if it is a matching kitchen cupboard. We know we'll have to leave room for air but is it advisable to box the boiler in??

Thanks in advance!

robowen

It's ok to put the boiler in a cupboard. :j

If its a room sealed combi it shouldn't make a difference putting it in a cupboard as it draws its air from outside the house. I would put a vent in anyway or leave the top of the cupboard open to allow air to circulate around the boiler and prevent the components of the boiler from warming up.

If its a conventional boiler...again it's ok, but you'll have to put vents in it and get them the right size for the boiler.

rob

moneysavingplumber

With all due respect, completely disregard the previous post.

All ventilation requirements for any boiler is set by the manufacturer. Most combis require compartment ventilation for heat dissipation, and it is not acceptable to leave panels out of the top or bottom for this purpose, it must have purpose made vents designed to give the correct air-flow. The literature supplied with the boiler should give you the details, if yopu do not have them try calling Baxi, although they may not speak to you if you are not Corgi registered. If you can't get the info you need, let me know the model of boiler and I'll get it for you.

jimmyjim_uk

A bit harsh moneysavingplumber, robowen has stated a good point. If it is a room sealed appliance then there should be no problem. But you also make a good point about the heat. But to answer the OP, check with Baxi, in my opinion you should be alright.

Woby_Tide

(I thought robowen was a plumber too)

se999

I agree with the posts that say you need to follow the manufacturers instructions for fitting, which are normally very precise on minimum clearances, air vent sizes etc..

The other problem is access for regular maintenance. Either the boxing in needs to be easily removable, or it needs to allow enough room for an engineer to access all parts of the boiler to service it.

moneysavingplumber

jimmyjim_uk wrote:

A bit harsh moneysavingplumber, robowen has stated a good point. If it is a room sealed appliance then there should be no problem. But you also make a good point about the heat. But to answer the OP, check with Baxi, in my opinion you should be alright.

I don't think it's harsh at all, but I didn't intend any offence to Robowen. The advice wasn't correct. The objective of the OP wasn't to establish how room sealed boilers work. Only in the last three or four years have most room-sealed boilers modified the design to allow them to be put in compartments without ventilation. The Baxi Solo 3 doesn't require ventilation, but until recently the Potterton Suprima did. Aside from the ventilation issue, there's the issue of operational and servicing clearances, and manufacturers are always specific about these ( an example would be 50mm top clearance, 200mm bottom clearance and 5mm sides and front operational clearance). These clearances are especially important when considering that cupboards are usually made of combustible materials, I've known of Corgi Inspectors insisting that installers heat-proof compartments with fire-proof board, even when it wasn't in the manufacturer's literature to do so. My Corgi Inspector was the person that advised me that leaving panels out is no longer acceptable, because a new owner of the house may not realise the reason for it. A labelled, purpose made vent will leave them in no doubt and they will be less likely to modify it.

Fluella

Thanks for all the replies, the front of the cupboard would be a door with hinges to fit in with the rest of the kitchen cupboards and to allow acessibility too the boiler. I'm going to ask further advice before we go ahead with it. Thanks again!

moneysavingplumber

Woby_Tide wrote:

(I thought robowen was a plumber too)

He may well be, and if he is, I take my hat off to him, he must be as mad as I am!

The Institute of Plumbing and Heating and Engineering's website members-only forum is a lively debating ground and there we all (usually) accept that we have different opinions on certain things but, moreover, that we don't all know everything about every subject, that would be impossible.

The most important thing with regards to this thread is that the correct information gets to the person that needs it, which was why I was so clear-cut. Robowen's post wasn't necessarily 'wrong' but just left too much open to interpretation and an 'it should be ok' on subjects where strict guidelines are in place. The job should be done right if it's going to be done.

I'm sure on other aspects of the industry I may well be deferring to him.

All the best.

Sweet_Pea_2

When we moved into our house the boiler on the kitchen wall had been boxed into a larder style cupboard. (The boiler is a baxi solo) When I had the boiler serviced our corgi registered plumber did not tell us that this was dangerous, but it was a complete nuisance because the cupboard had to be completely emptied and took off the wall to get to the boiler! The boiler is quite high on the wall so the cupboard had no top on it, it wasn't completely boxed in.
We recently replaced the kitchen and we have removed the cupboard from around the boiler as it took up loads of space in our small kitchen. The boiler looks much better than it did before. The only problem is that it has quite a noisy timer switch on which clicks loudly and drives everyone else mad, you couldn't hear it when it was in a cupboard. It doesnt drive me mad, I just remove my hearing aids when I'm in the kitchen and I cant hear it. (There has to be some advantages to being hard of hearing!)

bestyman

Just my opinion. I was corgi registered for 10 years and packed it in due to the way it works. Whilst almost every other proffesion in the country once qualified can work unhindered, not so the gas fitter. Back to college every 5 years , work inspections every year, new rules and regs out constantly. I did many gas safety inspections and condemned instalations that I knew were perfectly safe due to non compliance with the regs.
One of my jobs was faulted because the cooker was 4mm lower than the worksurface, not by the book but obviously not a danger. A friend of mine used the wrong type of pipe clips and had to do the work again. Meanwhile DIYers are found everyday at the DIY sheds buying gas fires etc to install themselves, Some landlords have utter contempt for the regs and most people I know havnt had the gas fire looked at for years( my opinion one of the most dangerous gas appliance). Then there is also the man from the pub who will do the work for 20 quid.
My point is that getting out the rule book and the micrometers and quoting this reg and that dimension is not the answer.
Mr moneysaving plumber please answer this. If the OP has a room sealed boiler with the top left off the cupboard and room left for air would you sleep in the bedroom above it quite happily? I know that I would. Im not saying you are wrong, you must be right as the rule book says so.
Please take this as a bit of friendly debate, thats how its meant.
Paul