Roof insulation for boiler in the loft 2 March at 9:57PM in Energy 5 replies 271 views

forgottendreams77

Just moved into a new place and the boiler is in the loft, which automatically comes on when it's cold outside to stop the pipes from freezing. When it's in minus figures outside it comes on for about 15 minutes every hour or so. Wakes me up at night, and uses a lot of gas (and money) - more than heating during the day.

Boiler engineer has told me that moving the boiler downstairs will be a big job costing thousands of pounds, and of course will result in the boiler taking up living space somewhere. So I was wondering if insulating the roof might be an alternative option, with inherent benefits for energy bills anyway - has anyone here tried this? Or more generally, if you've had roof insulation, how much warmer is your loft as a result? Thanks.

Reed_Richards

• Spray foam insulation has a bad reputation and could potentially reduce the saleability of your house, although I don't think it's all bad.
• Some loft spaces are designed to be ventilated.  Moister air from inside your house needs a way out, even if it's a slow way out through a lot of insulation.
• If your house is timber-framed you would need to insulate the gable ends as well as the roof.
• Could you not put the boiler inside an insulated box?  You would need an insulated "door" for access but potentially you could make the insulation thicker (so better) than roof insulation.

macman

Remove the loft insulation immediately below the boiler and block any draughts that may be causing it to kick in at night? Are the pipes fully lagged?

retiringtoosoon

Move thermometer into house proper?

BUFF

retiringtoosoon said:

Move thermometer into house proper?

the boiler will have an internal thermostat.

FreeBear

macman said:

Remove the loft insulation immediately below the boiler and block any draughts that may be causing it to kick in at night? Are the pipes fully lagged?

Alternatively, build an insulated cupboard around the boiler and try to get as much of the exposed pipework inside the box.

There may be a menu setting within the boiler control that allows you to adjust the frost setting or even disable it all together - Discuss with your heating engineer before making any changes as it might invalidate any boiler warranty.