Follow along with the video below to see how to install our site as a web app on your home screen.
Note: This feature may not be available in some browsers.
Looking for a smarter way to manage your heating this winter? We’ve been testing the new Aqara Radiator Thermostat W600 to see how quiet, accurate and easy it is to use around the home. Click here read our review.
well he aint getting my brass and he's lucky I didn't do him with a push down the loft hatch!...fancy rejecting my well constructed fire resistant timber frame! ...was getting pretty hot under the collar...luckily this collar wasn't on the boiler flue or the loft could have gone up!
I have recently had a new condensing boiler installed in the loft. It replaced a 20 year old floor standing boiler on the ground floor in the middle of the house.
I hadn't realised the effect of the frost protection system on the new boiler. If the air temp falls below 5 deg C, it fires up. (at any time, day or night, regardless of the programmer or room stat) and the whole heating system comes on, until the boiler itself is warm enough to turn itself off. Our loft has 100 mm insulation at the joists and none at the rafters. It can easily get down below 5 deg in the winter.
So far this has completely outweighed any efficiency savings I had expected from a condensing boiler. As it is a room sealed type mounted on an ouside wall it should be possible to put it inside a cupboard. (It will have to be quite large to meet the installation space requirements). Otherwise I'm faced with rafter insulation, which will be at least double the cost of insulation at joists to achieve the same level of insulation.
Meanwhile I have learned to turn off all the TRVs at night so that only one radiator heats up.
A MDF cupboard around it with insulation over is cheap and quick enough to do. 100mm of insulation? Put rigid foam over the joists and loft boards over that. That will double the insulation values and eliminate cold bridging of the joists.
There are certain fire and ventilation precautions to be observed when fitting a boiler and particularly in a loft.
Merely boxing in a boiler will not always be so efficient as the boiler is still cooled by air flow through the flue although any improvement in insulation will help.
The most common fault of those who box in boilers is to obstruct the maintenance access required. This is quoted in the installation instructions.
If you need to find a tradesperson to get your job done, please try our local search below,
or if you are doing it yourself you can find suppliers local to you.
Select the supplier or trade you require, enter your location to begin your search.
Please select a service and enter a location to continue...
Are you a trade or supplier? You can create your listing free at DIYnot Local