Ceiling fan same room combi boiler

Solus · 1 Feb 2018 at 23:54

I've had conflicting opinions on this so hopefully someone can confirm.

My son's bedroom has a combi boiler within a partition cupboard in the corner. My brother in law (an electrician) says that a ceiling fan isn't allowed.

I asked a plumber who came to do the radiator in our extension who stated as the boiler is combi it should be no problem.

Any ideas?

bremen1874 · 2 Feb 2018 at 01:13

Presumably your Brother-in-law had some sort of justification for his statement?

Is this one of those large fans that's part of the light fitting and moves the air within the room or an extractor fan like you'd have in a bathroom?

I can't see that it'd matter whether it was a combi or not. Open flue vs. room sealed could have a bearing (FWIW I wouldn't want to sleep in a room with an open flue boiler even with monoxide alarms).

a1ex2001 · 2 Feb 2018 at 04:23

If the combi boiler is room sealed (most are) then it doesn't matter if you fit a fan. If it is open flue (very unlikely) then you need to do a spillage test once the fan is fitted as it could cause a drop in pressure in the room drawing gas or the fumes back into the room.

Solus · 2 Feb 2018 at 22:50

It is a light fitting with remotr which we have fitted in all other bedrooms.

My brother in law mentioned that he was always prevented from doing so if a boiler was present.

The boiler is a baxi 6 year old combi which the flue goes straight out through the external wall. I have a carbon monoxide alarm inside the cupboard itself which has never alarmed.

a1ex2001 · 3 Feb 2018 at 13:14

Solus said:
It is a light fitting with remotr which we have fitted in all other bedrooms.

My brother in law mentioned that he was always prevented from doing so if a boiler was present.

The boiler is a baxi 6 year old combi which the flue goes straight out through the external wall. I have a carbon monoxide alarm inside the cupboard itself which has never alarmed.

Your brother in law is wrong the answer is in my post. Find the model of your boiler and google to confirm it is room sealed (it will be but double check) then you can install the fan. The rule your brother is quoting relates to older boilers like back boilers which drew air from the room and then exhausted it outside. The risk is the fan could reverse the flow by dropping the pressure inside the room this is not possible on a modern combi as they draw air in from outside and the exhaust it the same way so a fan in the room can do nothing.

Solus · 3 Feb 2018 at 19:44

a1ex2001 said:
Your brother in law is wrong the answer is in my post. Find the model of your boiler and google to confirm it is room sealed (it will be but double check) then you can install the fan. The rule your brother is quoting relates to older boilers like back boilers which drew air from the room and then exhausted it outside. The risk is the fan could reverse the flow by dropping the pressure inside the room this is not possible on a modern combi as they draw air in from outside and the exhaust it the same way so a fan in the room can do nothing.

Thank you so much for clearing that up