Student halls - gas coming in through window from boiler flue below!

arfurrrr

unclebulgaria wrote: »

Secondly, a flue too close to a window is NOT always immediately dangerous or at risk!.

Read the post - he said its entering the room - if it is then its ID - End Of

arfurrrr

C_Mababejive wrote: »

I can see my 35 years as an engineer are wasted then.
And thats a proper Engineer, i.e one who is suitably qualified to be registered with the engineering council and IGEM.

Cleary because SUPERMAN said

"I am situated next to a kitchen that happens to have a very noisy boiler (flue sounds like a hair dryer), which is only half the problem as my main concern is the smell of gas from the boiler flue from the kitchen below ours. I know it is coming from that one as on a cool day the steam is evident and comes in through my window"

He does not say what type of flue it is , you don`t know what it is neither do it . He doesn`t know if its installed correctly , neither do you or I .

He has said the flue is very noisy - That needs looking at

He said he can smell gas - That needs looking at - GIUSP 1.3

He said the steam (POC) from the boiler is entering the flat - That needs looking at and it is ID as per GIUSP - See Part 1 6.2 ID and 8.3 / 8.4

C_Mababejive

Almost all fanned flued boilers are room sealed and their operational noise could be likened to a hair drier. I can hear my neighbours fanned flue combi three doors away in the back garden when it kicks in and that was only fitted last year (i.e new). The poster seems to alternate between talk of gas and steam. When he says gas does he mean raw CH4? Very likely. Modern High efficiency boilers often output a small amount of unburnt gas in the pre and/or post purge phase of combustion.

As the appliance is fitted in campus student accomodation, it would be a very neglectful and foolish University estates department that engaged unqualifed people to fit and service such appliances and to fail to ensure that they are subjects to annual checks.

As the OP hasnt returned we can only assume he has either remedied the issue,moved or died.

2sides2everystory

C_Mababejive wrote: »

As the appliance is fitted in campus student accomodation, it would be a very neglectful and foolish University estates department that engaged unqualifed people to fit and service such appliances and to fail to ensure that they are subjects to annual checks.

As the OP hasnt returned we can only assume he has either remedied the issue,moved or died.

It might be it a very neglectful and foolish engineer with 35 years experience who is prepared to suggest such things are left to the chance of unknown maintenance persons both correctly knowing and correctly practising their job in this economic climate. 'Near enough is good enough' for many out there holding "qualifications" as competent persons, especially if theirs was the lowest bid.

Have you visited any university halls of residence lately ? Some are the absolute pits. The facilities people clearly have extremely limited budgets on many university campuses and the standard of some of the accommodation on some quite famous campuses varies tremendously from new but cheaply built and with very questionable fire escape due to rabbit hutch designs clustering umpteen bedrooms around and above communal [STRIKE]fat fire areas[/STRIKE] sorry kitchens to downright originally pretty seedy and now awaiting renovation pending an upturn.

The OP has indicated his accommodation is part of the worst. Don't you think the better part of valour demands a full safety check? After all, the OP was bright enough to go to university - give the OP some credit for noticing things ain't right. If raw natural gas escapes combustion what other products might there be in the flue that don't smell too good, or don't smell at all but don't do you any good? And it's ok is it?

Not with any offspring of mine would it be.

C_Mababejive

2sides2everystory wrote: »

It might be it a very neglectful and foolish engineer with 35 years experience who is prepared to suggest such things are left to the chance of unknown maintenance persons both correctly knowing and correctly practising their job in this economic climate. '.

Law says if they are GSR registered,they are qualified..anyway,where is the OP?

unclebulgaria

arfurrrr wrote: »

unclebulgaria wrote: »

Arf I think you need to get your facts right before you panic everyone!
Firstly, what you see as products of combustion (POC's) may not be anything more than steam

and thats where I am going to stop you , as you have no idea .

:rotfl:

Arf have you actually read anything to do with boilers and products of combustion??
What you smell is a small proportion of unburnt gas as the boiler starts then the heat exchanger heating up and that was from Worcesters Techline! CO is odourless, so is CO2 and I maybe wrong but so is the NOX.
I have visited more properties where "know it all's" have convinced a tenant or home owner that they are being poisoned by a boiler or fire than you have had hot dinners.
Why is it that when someone see's a plume of steam coming from a boiler flue they automatically assume its going to kill them?
A properly maintained boiler or fire will produce very small amounts of CO. I have carried out over 115 CO background checks in the last 3 years on properties where a tenant or homeowner has complained of noxious smells that a friend has said is bad for them, only one of them registered above the permissible background limit of 10ppm after 15 minutes and that was due to a recently added carport. I have actually held a flue gas analyzer probe directly over a clean burning well maintained boiler and got no higher reading than 7ppm. What you visually see exiting a flue is condensation, a by product of the combustion process.
Now as far as I have read no-one has said that the guy should leave his window open and allow the steam through his window, I did say shut the window and request a free inspection from Gas Safe.
You on the other hand patronized the guy. He was silly to ask advice and not then check on the replies to his questions.
And by the way you need proof of P.O.C's entering a property before you can label any appliance I.D. and any evidence that an appliance's flue is too close to an opening is labelled N.C.S. unless that proof is found.

And that's where I'm going to stop you, as you have no idea! :rotfl:

Call Gas Safe 0800 408 5500 and get a free safety check, if there's a problem they will sort it and deal with whoever is responsible but mean time shut your window.

jalexa

Its disappointing that the OP has gone AWOL (even though a safety related question which would benefit others was asked of the Forum) since a photograph would be very interesting.

arfurrrr

unclebulgaria wrote: »

And that's where I'm going to stop you, as you have no idea! :rotfl:

.

Please do not pinch my line

unclebulgaria wrote: »

And by the way you need proof of P.O.C's entering a property before you can label any appliance I.D. .

The OP has said the "steam" flue gases poc is entering his flat - without seeing it or being there i can only advise based on the facts/truth of the OP .

If a client rang me and said steam from a boiler flue was entering his flat It would be classed as ID and they would be advised as appropiate until investigated . Which gas installer wouldn`t ?

unclebulgaria wrote: »

What you smell is a small proportion of unburnt gas as the boiler starts then the heat exchanger heating up and that was from Worcesters Techline! .

How do you know that is what he is smelling ? YOU DON`T

I am sure you know over gased appliances or appliances fitted without flue restrictor rings which should have them also has the same effect as it creates flame lift which results in unburnt gases exiting the flue . But then again it could be a passing gas valve or gas leak . You don`t know , neither do I . That is why it needs looking at urgently .


Superman if you there let us know whats happening .

unclebulgaria

Arf its not his boiler for starters!
You can't class someone else's appliance as I.D
The ESP will only turn off the appliance as they aren't tasked to examine appliances in depth.
Read your notes again, if you came into my house and turned off my appliance for a "maybe" I know which foot you would connect with!
You MUST have proof before you make a decision to I.D an appliance. You are completely right when you say it needs looking at but its not his to control.
Errr'ing on the side of caution is always wise but, its a fine line between being right and scaring someone to death.
He still has the option to close his window!
How would you deal with a nieghbours flue pluming into your customers window in a terrace back yard? Until its proven dangerous its a nuisance.

superman909

Hi folks, I'm OK lol (someone thought I was dead).....

Anyway, a chap quite high up in the company which runs the student accomodation came around to look at the problem last week.

This is what happened......

He went into my room, and had a chat with me about how there is no safety issue and so on, and then he got an engineer to switch off the boiler in question, and looked out the window as it was restarted. The flue plumed up out of the "exhaust", though the wind was blowing it away from the window that day, he did admit to smelling the gas which I had complained about. Though admitting to this, he was defiant that all was safe and that if anything, it was a nuisance issue. I told him I honestly couldn't live with having the window closed for the next four months, and so how then can I ventilate the room properly, as well as the heat/stuffiness in the room come springtime, etc. You simply cannot keep the room shut for such a long period of time, it needs to be opened every few days at the minimum surely I also told him that surely it is a health risk if you can smell the gas, I don't care if the flue is fitted within the regulations or whatever..... He dismissed it, but said he would look into it as a nuisance issue and talk to the manager of the halls.

So, I now have a meeting tomorrow morning with the manager of my halls (different person to the above mentioned chap). I feel they are going to brush the problem off, obviously they don't want to fork out on some plume management kit (that's probably the solution to clearing the ases away from my room right?).

So what sort of "evidence", as well as a photo of the problem, should I bring? I have read about the fact there will be considerable SO2 and NO2 that make up the flue gases, and for a certain that is a health risk. Even like 5ppm of SO2 can be risky. And flue gases certainly contain considerably more than this, so how on Earth can this simply be clased as a "nuisance"? Anyway, I am going to say if they can't sort the issue soon by directing the flue gases away from my room, then I will not pay the rent and will move elsewhere, that's my problem sorted, but I am sure they will lose a considerable amount of money because of this, so they'll have to do something.

What do you feel are the appropriate facts that need to be brought up, any figures on flue gases?? I do feel that I need to print something off....