Noisy boiler problem

[denirosdoll]

I hope someone here can advise me please.

I have had an Ideal Isar Combi Boiler installed with the WarmFront grant. The problem is that it is installed in a small utility room right below my bedroom, and the noise during the night is driving me mad.

The hot water does a pre-heat every 90 minutes to maintain the water in the boiler at 35 degrees, this cannot be stopped without turning the boiler off completely, I won't want to do this in the winter as it will mean getting out of bed in the morning in the freezing cold, also at the moment i have to go outdoors in the dark to switch it off before i go to bed.

Everytime this pre-heat fires up, i am waking up during the night, and i am already a very poor sleeper, so am really suffering from sleep deprivation when i forget to turn it off.

Is there a way i can soundproof around it or underneath my bedroom floorboards to prevent it waking me up. I was considering soundproofing the ceiling of the utility as i am going to get it completely plastered, but will the sound of the pre-heat still travel through the pipework?

I don't have much cash to spare, and don't want to waste money on things that aren't going to prevent the problem. Your advice is really appreciated, thanks in advance.

 

[Deleted member 105431]

Lagging all the pipes in the boiler cupboard may help.

 

[Agile]

If you are regular in your habits then all you need is a timeclock to depower the boiler overnight.

However DONT do that in cold weather otherwise the boiler might freeze up.

Ideally you need a timeclock with a frost stat bypass.

Tony

 

[denirosdoll]

The pipes are already lagged, and unfortunately no i'm not regular in my sleeping habits, my sleep problem is severe enough to be regarded as a disability. I wondered the first few nights it was installed why i was waking up at such regular times during the night, and then realised it was at 90-minute intervals, the same pattern as the boiler firing up to pre-heat the water.

 

[Agile]

All you need to use a timeswitch is to not need hot water or heating during a core night time period every night.

Tony

 

[denirosdoll]

The timer/stat only controls the central heating not the water, is it possible to fit something to control the water too?

 

[Slugbabydotcom]

If you were to fit another timer at the point where your boiler is connected to the mains then it could be switched off overnight as Tony says. Remember though that by doing this you will not be able to use the boiler for heating or hot water at the times when it has no power.
I have had a look at the MI's and they state that the HW preheat operates 24/7 and as far as I can see there is no dip switch on the pcb or indeed any other way of turning it off.
It would be infuriating to me that a boiler manufacturer could dictate when my gas gets burned. In your situation I would be on the phone to Ideal firstly to enquire if it can be turned off and if they told me it couldn't I'd be writing a letter to the CEO.

 

[BDL]

Ring Ideals, explain to them the problem and ask them to fit a flowswitch to your Dhw side. It is available as an extra and the problem will be solved. (Unless you have a leak somewhere, which I doubt because it will fire every 90secs or so).

Hope that helps.

 

[denirosdoll]

What's a flowswitch please?

Some way of controlling the hot water from inside my house would be great. I can't understand why i cannot do this from the programmer unit like i could with my old boiler.

It's driving me so crazy i've had to resort to sleeping on th sofa last night.

 

[denirosdoll]

Aha there might be some hope here.

I just spoke to the installers, and told them i cannot live with this noise, so they may need to move the boiler halfway across the house. A couple phone calls later, the manager has found someone who said there is some kit they can get that will turn off the preheat. This would be a permanent measure so means i would have to put up with a longer run-off to get hot water, but hey as long as i can sleep i can cope with that.

They should be coming on Friday to install this kit so i'll keep you posted, as this info might be of use to others who have these boilers.