Installing boiler in loft against roof trusses? 17 March at 11:55PM in In my home (includes DIY) MoneySaving 8 replies 213 views

forgottendreams77

Our boiler is currently installed in the loft, attached to the wall directly above our bedroom. This is pretty annoying when it comes on when we're sleeping, especially when it's cold and the frost protection kicks in at all times of the night. The wall on the other side of the house isn't suitable for mounting a boiler.

I'm now looking at getting a new boiler and one of the companies has suggested this disruption could be improved by installing the new one in the centre of the loft, creating a little internal wall/ construct for it, attached to the roof trusses.

Is this something anyone here has seen done? And is there any risk that this could damage the roof or weaken the structural integrity of the property?

Thank you.

ThisIsWeird

No risk. 

I take it the flue run will be ok from there?

forgottendreams77

ThisIsWeird said:

No risk. 

I take it the flue run will be ok from there?

Sorry, can you elaborate on why there's no risk? Does it make any difference how the wall/construct is attached to the trusses, or to which part? For the flue, the plan would be to have it going out the top of the roof. Thanks

sevenhills

My solar panel equipment is attached to the roof trusses, perhaps not as substantial as a boiler.

ThisIsWeird

The weight of a boiler is insignificant to the structure of a roof. 

The plumber will presumably fit a couple of vertical studs between the roof rafters or a collar tie, and the loft's floor joists, and mount a suitable (fire resistant?) board to that on which to mount the boiler. They will know what they are doing, just as they would if installing a (much heavier) cold water tank up there.

While you were up there, did you have any concerns about snapping a ceiling joist with your own weight? Do you think you could have pulled yourself up on a rafter without causing the roof to collapse inwards? Cool. Well a boiler weighs a fair bit less than you. 

My only 'concerns' would be about issues like whether it got in the way, or took up too much room in its proposed location - any issues there?

forgottendreams77

ThisIsWeird said:

The weight of a boiler is insignificant to the structure of a roof. 

The plumber will presumably fit a couple of vertical studs between the roof rafters or a collar tie, and the loft's floor joists, and mount a suitable (fire resistant?) board to that on which to mount the boiler. They will know what they are doing, just as they would if installing a (much heavier) cold water tank up there.

While you were up there, did you have any concerns about snapping a ceiling joist with your own weight? Do you think you could have pulled yourself up on a rafter without causing the roof to collapse inwards? Cool. Well a boiler weighs a fair bit less than you. 

My only 'concerns' would be about issues like whether it got in the way, or took up too much room in its proposed location - any issues there?

Thanks for the explanation, and apologies for my ignorance (and for doubting the plumber's wisdom)!

From what I can tell, no problems with it being in the way/ taking up too much room.

Thank you.

FreeBear

I'd be asking them to use some resilient mountings to reduce the amount of noise being transmitted to the roof & joists.

ThisIsWeird

forgottendreams77 said:

ThisIsWeird said:

The weight of a boiler is insignificant to the structure of a roof. 

The plumber will presumably fit a couple of vertical studs between the roof rafters or a collar tie, and the loft's floor joists, and mount a suitable (fire resistant?) board to that on which to mount the boiler. They will know what they are doing, just as they would if installing a (much heavier) cold water tank up there.

While you were up there, did you have any concerns about snapping a ceiling joist with your own weight? Do you think you could have pulled yourself up on a rafter without causing the roof to collapse inwards? Cool. Well a boiler weighs a fair bit less than you. 

My only 'concerns' would be about issues like whether it got in the way, or took up too much room in its proposed location - any issues there?

Thanks for the explanation, and apologies for my ignorance (and for doubting the plumber's wisdom)!

From what I can tell, no problems with it being in the way/ taking up too much room.

Thank you.

Hardly ignorance of the first order :-) And you are welcome. 

If the plumber isn't up to the joinery part themselves, they'll know someone who is. But if they do tackle it themselves, I wouldn't worry - it's pretty basic construction, and almost certainly something they've done a good few times; the trickiest part is the mounting of the actual boiler, and that is obviously a standard part of the job that they'd likely have done dozens of times.

Is the current noise transmitted through the ceiling/air, do you think, or via vibes in the wall? I think you'll find the new boiler will already be remarkably quiet in itself, but I certainly don't blame you for also wanting it repositioned. I bet you won't hear a thing :-)

Happy New Boiler.

forgottendreams77

ThisIsWeird said:

Is the current noise transmitted through the ceiling/air, do you think, or via vibes in the wall? I think you'll find the new boiler will already be remarkably quiet in itself, but I certainly don't blame you for also wanting it repositioned. I bet you won't hear a thing :-)

Happy New Boiler.

I'm not sure, but I think it's mostly through the wall. It's on the same wall as a disused external chimney, so maybe that is amplifying the noise/ carrying it further.

Thanks - fingers crossed!