With gas prices climbing higher than Edmund Hillary I think the time has come for an upgrade to a new efficient boiler.
At the moment I'm in the cogitation/planning stages before looking for installers.
The current Crane Cavalier boiler, a cast iron floor standing behemoth, is sited approx dead center of the downstairs space on an inside wall of the kitchen. It is flued into an existing internal chimney breast so reusing the old flue is a non starter unless I've misunderstood something. I would also prefer to move it out of the kitchen to reclaim some space.
Originally I was thinking loft install but a quick measure suggests a 60+' external run of probably 30+mm pipe would be required. Not to mention boarding the loft, handrails, lighting etc etc to create a safe working place for the installer. All in quite a lot of additional expenditure to put the boiler somewhere that doesn't strike me as a great place for it.
So now I'm wondering if upstairs wouldn't be a better choice than the loft. The current hot water tank is up there almost directly above the current boiler (gravity how water setup) in an airing cupboard with loads of room for a boiler and access to an external wall via an extant cupboard. All it would need is is a few feet extension of the gas pipe to get it upstairs
Which brings me to the question. Downstairs is all parquet over solid concrete. The existing gas meter is at the far end of an attached garage probably 30' from the boiler as the crow flies. From the meter a 1 1/2" cast looking pipe dives into the concrete and emerges by the boiler. There's also a gas cooker outlet a couple of feet further along.That's all I know about the pipe and inspection is going to be impossible.
Assuming the pressure tight and drop under load numbers all check out would you use the extant pipe given that it's some sort of iron (not galvanized silver in appearance) buried in concrete?
At the moment I'm in the cogitation/planning stages before looking for installers.
The current Crane Cavalier boiler, a cast iron floor standing behemoth, is sited approx dead center of the downstairs space on an inside wall of the kitchen. It is flued into an existing internal chimney breast so reusing the old flue is a non starter unless I've misunderstood something. I would also prefer to move it out of the kitchen to reclaim some space.
Originally I was thinking loft install but a quick measure suggests a 60+' external run of probably 30+mm pipe would be required. Not to mention boarding the loft, handrails, lighting etc etc to create a safe working place for the installer. All in quite a lot of additional expenditure to put the boiler somewhere that doesn't strike me as a great place for it.
So now I'm wondering if upstairs wouldn't be a better choice than the loft. The current hot water tank is up there almost directly above the current boiler (gravity how water setup) in an airing cupboard with loads of room for a boiler and access to an external wall via an extant cupboard. All it would need is is a few feet extension of the gas pipe to get it upstairs
Which brings me to the question. Downstairs is all parquet over solid concrete. The existing gas meter is at the far end of an attached garage probably 30' from the boiler as the crow flies. From the meter a 1 1/2" cast looking pipe dives into the concrete and emerges by the boiler. There's also a gas cooker outlet a couple of feet further along.That's all I know about the pipe and inspection is going to be impossible.
Assuming the pressure tight and drop under load numbers all check out would you use the extant pipe given that it's some sort of iron (not galvanized silver in appearance) buried in concrete?