Oil boiler flue - noisy and 1m from my boundary

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20 Feb 2012
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Derbyshire
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My neighbour has a new oil boiler (I'm assuming floor mounted) with a low level, horizontal flue pointing at my back wall (3.5m) but only 1m from the boundary. Atm my boundary is a half height timber lap but I want to replace it with a 2m lap panel as the concrete posts are badly spalled. My bedroom window and utility windows are directly opposite. His wall is parallel to mine - so he is always 1m away.

Even though the contractor is still fine tuning the system (I know it's rarely spot on first time around) it kicks in at 5.45 am and can be heard in every room in the house. From a quick google, I find that there are stricter new guidelines for condensing boilers, which should have flue terminals at least 2.5m from a boundary. My questions are these.

1. Are these mandatory? A call to OFTEC left me with the impression that they are advisory only.

2. The 2.5m rule seems to be for the mitigation of the exhaust plume only. Could the installer get round this by using a plume diverter. It would need to be >45 degrees being only 1m from the boundary. Is the measurement from the end of the flue in any direction or straight ahead?

3. There are OFTEC guidelines on positioning a flue with a table of decibels against distance from windows. Eg 65dB = 3.4m. Again, are these advisory only?

4. Have any OFTEC installers had to go back and quieten a system? I've heard of conical jets being quieter. If the flue is taken up the side of the neighbours wall (always 1m from my boundary), will it reduce the noise levels anyway?

I don't want to fall out with my neighbour - but I don't want to be driven out of my bedroom either. Any thoughts would be appreciated.
 
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There are two aspects, the pluming which is 2.5m from the terminal to where it impinges on the boundary, and the noise aspect.

No boiler should cause a nuisence to anyone.

What aspect of the noise bothers you? I doubt much can be done about that though!

Tony
 
I had a Worcester Dansmoor put in just before you had to have a condensing. It was recently tested at 90% efficiency and is much quieter than the new boiler opposite. I accept that modern condensing boilers (particularly oil) are noisy - but I'm looking for solutions.

If the OFTEC installer has put the flue 1m from the boundary in breach of regs, then that's a starting point to justify me asking them to change the flue. My sleeping head is about 20 feet from the terminal when it kicks in with a woosh and a roar at 5.45. The first night, before it was set up, it was cycling every four minutes for 40 seconds a time all night.
 
Are condensing oil boilers really more noisy?

Certainly cond gas boilers are no more noisy!

Tony
 
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I'm not aware that HE boilers are noisier than SE variants, are you sure it really is that noisy, or could you be uber sensitive to noise?

You need to have a "friendly chat to your neighbour, invite him into your house so he can hear the noise for himself maybe you can come to an amicable arrangement for rectification neighbour disputes rarely have winners only losers, so I hope you can sort it out nicely! good luck ;)
 
Oil boilers are generally more noisy.
The fan and burner can make a significant noise.
Diverting the plume will have little effect on the noise it makes.
However if the boiler is internal think of your poor neighbour the noise
is in their house!
 
I think you can get on to the local environmental health from a nuisance point of view, if the plume goes over the boundary or impinges on the fence they could as you say fit a plume management kit to get around it.

I sympathize try and resolve it a friendly way with your neighbours if you can.
 
Can't seem to find any definitive answer on the 2.5m rule that may be a new stricter requirement. In any event, the neighbour appears to have revamped his utility at great cost and re-positioned the boiler. £££ to change it all now.

First job is to talk him out of setting his timer at 5am..... :(
 

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