Boiler in the Garage

smcqis

In our home, the boiler is in the utility room in the house but we were viewing a house and the boiler is in the garage. I know this is normal in alot of cases but is there any disadvantages to it so to speak, eg in times of frost like the cold period we had over xmas?

Doozergirl

Not really. It would be sensible to insulate the pipes, but it's not a bad place for a boiler.

boots_babe

We had ours relocated to the garage last year, and have had no issues whatsoever over the freezing period in Dec/Jan. It's indoors so isn't the same as having the boiler outside to the elements, can't see it would be an issue.

chris_m

Dad's boiler is in the garage and the only issue he had was the condensate pipe blocking with ice and the boiler shutting down. Even though the pipe's lagged it still freezes up eventually so I've tried to train him into "watering" it daily with a kettleful of hot water.

Next time the plumber comes to service the boiler I've advised him to ask if the pipe can be repositioned so it has more of a drop before it joins the guttering downpipe, as it's only got an inch or so drop in 5 feet. That would normally be fine but in very cold weather a layer of ice can form inside, followed by another on top of that, and another, etc.

sonastin

Regardless of whether the boiler is in the garage or the house, its worth giving some consideration to how close it is sited to the places you'll be needing the hot water (i.e. baths, showers, sinks). You won't be able to tell the pipe routes but chances are if the boiler is physically close to the sink, hot water will get there quickly and still be hot when it arrives. If its at the other end of the house, you'll end up running a lot of cold water through before the hot gets there (bad if your on metered water) and you'll need a lot of lagging to keep it piping hot all the way to the end. (assuming we're talking combi boilers here?)

The house we're looking at has the boiler on the external wall of the garage. The (unlagged) pipes then cross to the house *outside* the back wall of the garage. And the bathroom (with ridiculously large corner bath) is at the other end of the house, a good 15+ m from the boiler. Chances of being able to run a hot bath in that house in December I'd say are pretty negligible!

Annabee

In our (rented) house the boiler is in the garage. Boiler is a bit temperamental and dodgy and several times the gas plumber that the agency send round has blamed the garage location for its problems during severe weather. Was that all excuses, then?

gooner63_2

A boiler in a garage should have a frost stat to stop it freezing up......which could mean it's on a lot more than if it was fitted inside the house, when the weathers really cold.......ideally a pipe stat should be fitted.....to stop it coming more than is needed......once a frost stat activates....it over rides all other controls......in theory a boiler could run all night and day in cold weather.....and the only way to turn it off.....is at the mains !!!!!!;)

Annabee

But it shouldn't go on if it's timed to be off, should it? I'm confused!

gooner63_2

Annabee wrote: »

But it shouldn't go on if it's timed to be off, should it? I'm confused!

A frost stat will over ride a timer ......it's all about protecting the boiler from frost damage !!!!!

WestonDave

Do ensure all the controls are in the house not in the garage - when we moved into our current house we had a thermostat in the house, but if you wanted to change or override the hot water controls you had to go out to the garage. Lets put it this way - not fun if you were all ready for a bath and realised there wasn't enough hot water!