gas fire and boiler vented through a chimney.

[stevie-b]

HI my mate has bought a conventional three bed semi detached house it has two chimney stacks, front and back, both of which have conventional chimney pots on.

Set into the fire places on the ground floor, front and back, he has two gas fires. Upstairs in the bathroom he has a combi boiler, venting into the back chimney stack.

There appears to be no metal flues and i am trying to persuade him there should be.

He is of the "It will do" mentality can anyone inform me how much of a problem it is and where i can find more information.

 

[m1key00]

Your mate needs to get this checked by an RGI as soon as possible, this situation, if it as you have described is totally illegal, and could be incredibly dangerous. Modern boilers take the air for combustion from outside via the flue, they then blow the products of combustion out of the same flue via a different pipe. Natural gas needs oxygen to burn properly, and therefore if the flue is terminated in a chimney stack then there will not be enough oxygen for complete combustion. If the gas is starved of oxygen during the combustion process then carbon monoxide is created instead of carbon dioxide. This then results in the burner creating carbon, which leaves soot like deposits on the heat exchanger and there is a real risk then of the flueways becoming blocked and carbon monoxide coming back into the room via a dodgy case seal. Then i'm afraid its very bad news for your friend and his family.

Its really important to get this checked!!!!

 

[stevie-b]

thanks for the reply,

I have told him to get an RGI but he feels its been like that for years so no worries!!!

He's actually spending money on having his garden cleared!!!!


do you know of a website so that i could print off some info about the boiler flue to maybe convince him?

 

[m1key00]

dont really know of any specific websites, but if you find out the make and model of the boiler and download the installation manual, then it will state exactly how and where to terminate the flue.

 

[kirkgas]

thanks for the reply,

I have told him to get an RGI but he feels its been like that for years so no worries!!!

He's actually spending money on having his garden cleared!!!!


do you know of a website so that i could print off some info about the boiler flue to maybe convince him?

get him one from a local funeral director with a price list of coffins, that should do it, advise him he is risking his familys life by his attitude, if checked out and fine then great

 

[stevie-b]

Could the damp patches in the chimney breast be caused by the condensing boiler?

 

[PEDANTICVINDICTIVEMAN]

Hopefully you have "other" friends, as you probably wont have this "particular" one for very long.

Be prepared for an Immediately Dangerous notification, in which the RGI will have to "ask" to dissconnect the appliance, your friend can refuse, and the RGI has no legal power to do it, if your friend wants to kill himself his family and even his neighbours then he is quite entitled to do so using a faulty appliance, it's his house, englishmans home is his castle and all that, or death trap whatever.
Hopefully he will only kill himself and do us all a favour, as judging by his attitude as you describe, he probably doesnt have his car MOT'd probably drink drives faulty brakes, but "oh they will do".
This nation is full of arseholes.

 

[stevie-b]

thanks for the reply,
i guess i should just say i told you so when something goes wrong.