Boiler in lodgers room

Calleja

Hi all,

Sitting in my new home of two weeks - I've had loads of advice off here, so thought I would see what people think to my small dilemma....

I'm considering doing short term lets to boost my income. Where I work we have a lot of visitors from overseas who need a place to stay for a couple of weeks, so I think this would suit me better than a long term lodger. The room I have designated for the 'lodger' has a boiler in. Its an old fashioned type - so the actual boiler and hot water tank is in the lodgers room. I've slept in there this week and its not too noisy but you do hear it coming on in the morning.

So first question - how much do you think a lodger would be put off by this?

Secondly, if I decide its not acceptable in its current state, my two options are to try and box it in properly to reduce the noise (its badly done currently), or possibly invest in a new boiler (possibly combi and remove it from the bedroom. Green deal perhaps?)

What do people think and does anyone have any experience of this?

Cheers!

G_M

1) Noise. Easy. Just be upfront /honest. When someone comes to see the room, show them the boiler, switch it on/off so they can hear it, and if they are happy, sorted! If not, they won't take the room.

2) Law. Get a GasSafe engineer in to give you a Gas Safety Certificate. (I assume it is a gas boiler?)

3) Safety. Put a CO alarm in the room.

See
HSE (Gas Safety Certificate rules)

Mr_Pitiful

It's not just about noise. Have a read of the FAQ on here:

http://www.hse.gov.uk/gas/domestic/faqlandlord.htm

Calleja

Thanks both!

Way ahead of you - got a gas certificate and there is a CO monitor in the room. So, assuming everything is legal and safe, has anyone else has any problems with boilers in lodgers rooms?

My concern is that 'guests' will 'book' into my house from abroad and won't be able to witness beforehand the situation. Therefore if I'm upfront and honest about the boiler I might put people off from staying when it may not actually be a problem, but if it is a problem, they may get narky with me for not telling them!

agrinnall

Why don't you just move into that room yourself and let your lodgers use the room you currently sleep in, which presumably doesn't have anything noisy in it?

PasturesNew

If I were going somewhere for 2 weeks I'd be over the moon that somebody from the organisation had a handy room to let and I'd completely oblivious to the boiler as it's only for two weeks and really handy as I'd not had to try to find my own place.

Longer term I'd not want it, but the "easy in/easy out" benefits of being in a colleague's house would outweigh most things that'd be a long-term niggle.

dimbo61

How much extra room would you have if the boiler was removed?
How old/efficient is the boiler ?
Modern boiler with power shower in bathroom !!!!

Dunroamin

Give them the best room (yours) and charge them more.

Calleja

Thanks all for the responses.

I did consider giving the lodger the nicer room, but it was a short-lived consideration! I've compromised when renting for many years, no way I'm doing it now I own my own house! I'm not going to be reliant on this extra money, it will just be a helping hand.

The boiler is very old, so a new one is probably on the cards in the next few years I reckon. Everything I read tells me its better to run the boiler into the ground rather than replace it if its working fine (assuming repairs aren't getting too expensive) but considering this little dilemma, it might actually be in my interest to do it sooner rather than later.

dimbo61

We fitted a which best buy Valiant 831 combi boiler 3 years ago
Great boiler for 3/4 bed house with bathroom and shower room
There was only electric storage heaters in house so total replumbing and downstairs shower room added