Boiler in garage

mojo524

Our Central Heating boiler is in the garage which means that it cuts in and heats up in cold weather. It frequently comes on during the night even though the heating clock is turned off. British Gas say it is to protect the boiler from becoming frozen (obviously, as it's in the garage).

Boiler about 9 years old and the house is a 1920's building. Is it worth having the boiler ripped out and replaced by a Combi? It's currently using energy when we don't need it! Any thoughts among you experts?

ariba10

Change your boiler and you should recover the costs in about fifty or sixty years.

Cardew

Welcome to the forum.


Your boiler will have a 'frost stat' which prevents the water in boiler freezing and causing damage. I wouldn't have thought a garage would have got that cold in this mild winter to operate a great deal.


Is this frost stat adjustable?


You are talking several thousand pounds to have the boiler replaced with a combi, so it wouldn't be cost effective; especially as it is only 9 years old.


Perhaps reconsider when the current boiler reaches the end of its life.

matelodave

A new boiler will set you back at least £2k so you'd need to save a tremendous amount of gas to make it worthwhile. Even if you saved £1 a night and it came on for 20 nights a year then it would take a 100 years to pay back.

All modern boilers including combi boilers have an inbuilt frost stat and will do the same unless you relocate it to inside the house, which will add quite a lot to the installation cost to sort out all the plumbing.

Wait until the boiler has finally died before changing it unless there are any other good reasons for a change. Just changing it to try and save a few pounds on your energy isn't cost effective whatever British Gas, the government or anyone else says.

Mojisola

mojo524 wrote: »

Our Central Heating boiler is in the garage which means that it cuts in and heats up in cold weather. It frequently comes on during the night even though the heating clock is turned off. British Gas say it is to protect the boiler from becoming frozen (obviously, as it's in the garage).

matelodave wrote: »

All modern boilers including combi boilers have an inbuilt frost stat and will do the same unless you relocate it to inside the house, which will add quite a lot to the installation cost to sort out all the plumbing.

This ^.

Can you add some insulation to the garage to stop it getting so cold? That would be cheaper than moving the boiler into the house.

matelodave

I should imagine that insulating the garage would cost several hundred pounds and would take 20 years or so to get any payback on reduced gas consumption.
I'd suggest that there's a just a perception that if the boiler kicks in a few times during the night then it must be costing lots.
Without actually measuring the amount of gas used during the night it would be hard to decide if the whole exercise is worthwhile.

Nada666

Unlikely to be worthwhile. Have you actually worked out how much the frost protection is using? (Switch the twice-a-day off and read the meter last thing at night and in the morning when the short-straw-drawer stumbles down to switch it back on.)

Stevefromdonny

Would you rather have a very frozen boiler? Frost stats are usually set at around 5 or 8 degrees, which it is very likely to achieve in winter. They aren't usually adjustable. A newer boiler will probably have even less tolerance of cold.

Mojisola

matelodave wrote: »

I should imagine that insulating the garage would cost several hundred pounds and would take 20 years or so to get any payback on reduced gas consumption.

If insulating the garage makes it a more usable space, it could be worth it.

If it gives mojo524 peace of mind, it could be worth it.

Whether something is worth doing isn't always just down to money.

AndyPK

Adjust the frost stat.
I don't think it should be coming on much at the moment.

Hominu

Check your garage doors, if you stand inside and close the doors can you see daylight? If so, it might be worthwhile making it seal a little better. I wouldn't spend more than about £20 on the task though as it's doubtful it'll be using more than that in gas.

A Combi will come on even more often, and will do so even in the middle of summer, even when installed inside a house as it has to deliver almost-instant hot water and can't do this from cold.