Where to put Combi Boiler?

[compact]

Gutting 1930's semi, getting new boiler, want a decent, efficient, quiet one, thinking Vaillant as they have a good name.
But, where to put

Kitchen is small, so will take up vital space
If in bathroom would it wake up light sleepers in room next door, or can you get virtually silent ones now?
Or maybe throw up in loft, bugger to access, but thinking of converting loft in the future, so not so much of a problem (though may be to reposition if in wrong place..)

Cheers

 

[The831Bunny]

Ideally the hot pipework run needs to be as short as possible to your most frequently used hot outlets. This prevents long deadlegs of cold water to run off before you obtain hot. However flue extensions & bends are expensive, as are copper tube and labour for long and difficult pipe runs. Gas pipework may have to be 28 or 35mm if the gas meter is a long way from the boiler, and you may also need a condense pump if the boiler is in the centre of a house and no waste connection is accessible.

Its usually a balance of all those things. The best bet is to ask the RGI who is installing it, he may suggest a location you haven't even thought of due to his knowledge of flue options and regulations etc.

FWIW boilers in lofts are rarely put into regulations either. Walkway, lighting, safety rails, permanent loft ladder. The list goes on... Also the RGI needs to fit through the trap door to service it too

 

[mcmoby69]

glowworm flexicoms come with a direct rear flue and will fit inside a standard kitchen wall unit or even underneath a worktop. they are a bit of a pain to work on when under the counter tho.

there may be others that will fit into a wall unit, other installers may have other makes to suggest. if you decide to add an extra bathroom in the future it might be wise to stick with a conventional hot water cylinder system, combine it with some solar or heat pump maybe?

the possibilities are numerous, just boils down to budget really.

 

[JohnD]

Two things that are often forgotten, and then regretted for years:

1) put it close to an internal drain so that the condensate can go e.g. into the soil pipe or kitchen sink waste pipe indoors. If you run it outside, sooner or later it will probably freeze in exceptionally cold weather, which is exactly the time you don't want your boiler to stop working.

2) the flue will emit great clouds of steam in cold weather. So put it where this will not blow past your windows or otherwise be unsightly, and especially where it will not cause nuisance to your neighbours. You can put an extender on the flue to blow it upwards or sideways if that helps.

If you put it in the loft you will wish you hadn't. On a kitchen wall in a corner isn't bad, you won't be needing to get at it every day, but it must be accessible for servicing. The corner position also gives you a choice of two walls to poke the flue through, and often the wind blowing round the corner will help dissipate the plume of steam. You will probably be able to line it up with your kitchen wall units and put a door in front of it.

 

[mysteryman]

Fit it with weather compensation while you do it. It's the only way to keep the boiler condensing as much as possible.