Boiler in the attic

bris

It's a common and sensible place for a boiler. What's not common is having it sealed off, it needs easy access for maintenance, although the controls should be downstairs somewhere so operating it with timers etc will not be an issue.


The surveyor will also need access so I can't see why he can refuse access.

mgarl10024

Slinky wrote: »

Can you hear it up in the loft though? Our boiler is below our bedroom in the garage. The wretched frost thermostat starting the boiler in the winter wakes me up at night and we have to use a different bedroom when it gets really cold otherwise I can't get a decent night's sleep.

It isn't completely silent. Our bedroom is almost directly under it and if led in bed I can hear it when it fires up. That said, I can just about make it out from the lounge two floors down, but that is really only because (I guess) the noise travels through the pipes rather than directly through the air (someone would have to yell from the attic to be heard in the lounge!).

It's like a low hum - like a distant air conditioner. If you had anything on in the room (a desk fan even) you'd not notice it. It's only when I'm led in bed in silence late at night with a Stephen King book that I might be more sensitive to a rumble in the distance.

Certainly never been woken up by it, and much better than it being in the same room, IMO.

unclebulgaria

theartfullodger wrote: »

What saint says..

Gas safety certificates are only required for properties rented from a private landlord: So not needed for owner/occupier property, nor council or housing association tenancies..

In my experience very few owner-occupiers have them.

Now don't be silly, of course they're required for council and housing assoc tenancies, its the same as renting from private LL's you pay rent either way.


If this house had the loft sealed with expanding foam then the boiler is not accessible therefore it can't be serviced/maintained so is straight away classed as at risk. There's nothing wrong with having the boiler in the loft so long as precautions are taken for cold weather. Also, any GSR plumber/manufacturer is well within his rights to refuse to service it if there isn't a provision for safe working within the loft i.e. boards, permanent ladder and a light.
A Gas Safety cert isn't proof that the boiler has been looked after properly anyway, its just a cert to say that on the day that boiler was deemed to be safe to use/not safe to be used.
I would hazard a guess that the LL was paying the Gas bill and didn't want the tenants running up a big bill by changing the boilers settings.

PasturesNew

mgarl10024 wrote: »

....(think 'monsters' ).

That's pretty much why I'd never have a boiler in the loft. Lofts petrify me.... so many monsters up there. Real monsters, as well as potential problems, cobwebs, spiders, etc etc ...

I've not peeked in mine yet - and I really intend to never do so. Ever.

TBagpuss

mgarl10024 wrote: »

I disagree. When recently renovating our new home, I deliberately opted to have the boiler put in the attic.

We control it remotely via a radio-frequency time-clock currently sat in the lounge, so I rarely need to go into the attic to do anything. It is also out of the way, meaning that it doesn't take up space in a bedroom/garage/kitchen. I also really didn't want it in a bedroom where children would be sleeping, not just because of any CO danger, but also because a lot of them get scared about the noises they make (think 'monsters' ).

The only regulation that I am aware of is that the engineer must be able to get to it. I suspect there are conditions about ladders being in good nick, headroom around the boiler, and boarding from the hatch to it (so they are not balancing on joists).

Well worth doing IMO.

Me too. As I recall, the boards immediately where the boiler is were replaced with fireproof boarding. There was already electric lighting in the loft and boards down to the place where the boiler was put in.

There was minimal insulation in the loft to start with (Previous owners seem to have done nothing in the house for years!) and I have put insulation in since. As this was done by the same (gas safe, and very highly recommended!) plumber/engineer who installed the boiler I presume there's no issue with having boiler and insulation in the same loft.

The only reason I would need to go into the loft would be if I want to check the pressure or adjust the max. temp for the hot water - neither of which is necessary on a frequent basis.

All that said, I agree with PPs that the boiler being inacessible would concern me and I would not go ahead with buying a property without seeing the boiler (or rather, having someone competent look at it!)

artyclarty

I just thought I would pop my head in to say thank you for all of the advice! It has been a long month and we have had quotes for moving the boiler (much more reasonable than I was expecting).

Been negotiating very hard and managed to get the property for aproximatley 15% less than what it was up for!

Survey tomorrow so fingers crossed.

theartfullodger

Good! And you might not need to move it once you've seen the full picture.

thesaint

I wouldn't move the boiler unless there is a specific reason for moving it.

moneyistooshorttomention

PasturesNew wrote: »

I'd be wanting to relocate it anyway - whoever wants to go into the attic if there's a problem, or suspected problem, or clock that needs resetting, or something, on the boiler. Daft place for it

My thoughts precisely. Hardly a 2 minute job to adjust the pressure on the boiler if you have to get into the attic to start with. Also what happens if your state of fitness is such at some point that you cant physically manage to climb a loft ladder and have to have the boiler in a more normal place in order to be able to do it yourself.

Seriously weird thing to do to put it up there.

The other thing I'm wondering about is whether the kitchen and bathroom/all bathrooms are too small to put a boiler in - in which case that rather makes the house itself too small to buy imo.

kaya

On a side note can anybody point me towards info on this empty homes grant please? We are completing on our new home on the 12th and it's been empty for well over 6 months , the house in in croxley green in hertfordshire