New oil boiler, old tank

Sunny_Saver

My neighbour is having a new oil boiler fitted as I type. However, he is not replacing the old 10-year old plus single skinned tank. He said he was told he doesn’t need to, so it’s still on wooden pallets near my fence.

I had a new oil boiler last year and was told to change to a double-skinned tank, with a concrete slab base and it had to be a certain distance from the fence.

My neighbour’s old boiler leaked a lot. Often I could smell a weird smell of fuel in my house. I think it might have been from his boiler.

Is there anything I should be worried about now he has a new oil boiler with an oil tank?

CliveOfIndia

There are regulations concerning oil tank siting - the base it's on, distance from house, etc. Sitting it on pallets certainly doesn't sound correct, sitting it on a solid concrete base is more in line with my understanding of part of the regs.

A 10-year-old tank, as far as it goes, is not necessarily an issue - a decent tank should last at least 20 years, probably more.

"My neighbour’s old boiler leaked a lot" - the boiler was leaking, or the tank? Two very different things.

"Is there anything I should be worried about now he has a new oil boiler with an oil tank?". No, lots of us have oil boilers with oil tanks 😀 As far as it goes, there's no issue with fitting a new boiler but retaining the old tank. However, if oil is leaking from somewhere, that's a different matter - your local council or environment agency would almost certainly be interested. And there's the matter of regulations, insofar as oil tank location, siting, distance from house, etc. apply. I'm not sure if this would be different in, say, England to Scotland to Wales or wherever - but it shouldn't be too hard to do a quick search and find out what the regulations are that apply to your local area.

lohr500

The new boiler should help with the weird fuel smell, assuming that smell was coming from oil leaking from his old boiler. The new boiler shouldn't have any impact on the old tank.

If the tank is close to 10 years old, then it should still have a reasonable life left in it. Is it steel, or plastic?

A 20 year expectancy seems to be the figure quoted based on a Google search. But this assumes the tank has been correctly installed and supported.

I would think then that the biggest concern, is the wooden pallets that the tank is sat on.
If they are also 10 years + old, then the pallets could well be starting to rot, leading to possible catastrophic collapse, or uneven settlement which would cause uneven loading on the tank base. Either case may well result in a tank leak, which will be expensive to clean up after and I imagine fines if the leak pollutes a watercourse or drain.

My understanding is that if an old tank is replaced, then any new tank must be installed to the latest regulations, so I very much suspect your neighbour would have to do something similar to what you had to do with your new tank.

Are you on good terms with your neighbour and could you express concern over the long term stability of the pallets and the financial impact on him if there was to be a serious leak?

I would also be concerned over the standard of work being carried out by the boiler installer, if the same person concluded that it was OK to leave the old tank sat on pallets!!

If the worst were to happen, is it likely that any spilled oil would find its way onto your property?

Sunny_Saver

Thank you for your response.

I believe the old boiler and tank are more than 10 years old. I spoke to him about it because he asked me how much I paid for my boiler and tank. His is twice the price of mine and has a 7-year warranty and is much better (according to the heating engineer).

The tank is plastic. I told him I thought his tank should be replaced and he said his plumber said it could be done anytime. In fact, he said he had two plumbers say the same when they came to quote.

I’m glad you asked about spilled oil getting onto my property because thinking about it, it can’t. Our properties are on a slope so mine is higher up!

Thank you.

Sunny_Saver

Clive offndia: The boiler leaked a lot, but he has had oil spillages too. I can’t be entirely sure because both he and his wife talk about several different topics simultaneously. Me being dopey, can’t keep up!

I wasn’t worried about him having an oil boiler. I have one too. I was concerned about a new boiler with an old single bunded tank and whether that combination had any H&S issues.

Thank you for answering.

lohr500

Whilst I would still be concerned about a tank sat on pallets and the environmental issues that will be created if it leaks, at least being higher up the hill you don't have the worry about your own property if it does leak.

The smell from a leak would be unpleasant, but I guess that would largely go away once the clean up operation was concluded. That being said, even a small amount seems to give off a strong smell as we found out when our old boiler in the kitchen had the slightest of leaks from the oil feed pipe.

Did the same engineer install your boiler? If not, I wouldn't be too concerned about what his engineer has sad about it being much better, etc. I guess he would say that if he is charging your neighbour considerable more than you paid your engineer to get yours changed. A lot will depend on the size and type of the boiler and if any additional plumbing work was required. Out of interest what is the make and model of your boiler?

Sunny_Saver

A different guy installed our Warmflow Agentis boiler this time last year. His guy could tell ours was ‘crap’ from looking at the flue. I am not sure what make or model my neighbour’s is, but it’s obviously not Warmflow as his guy thinks that brand is 💩 🤣.