Combi boiler location

Mr.Stu

Mr.Stu

Mr.Stu

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18 Oct 2002
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Getting rid of our 30yr old system boiler and have 2 options for locating the new combi.

Old airing cupboard or garage? About £250 more for garage.

Any experience or thoughts? Any benefits to putting it upstairs?

Ta
 
Airing cupboard all day long unless you really need the space.
One of the biggest complaints people have is how long it takes to get hot water out of the tap. This is due to combis not losing heat into the pipework like a hot water cylinders. So the further the pipework has to run the more water you have to run off before you get hot through.
Usually the airing cupboard is central in the house and not too far from all the taps. The only thing I would do extra would be to take out the old 22mm hot pipework (if you have any) and make it 15mm.
 
don't put it in the garage, that is just asking for trouble

keep it as close to the taps/radiators as you can. An airing cupboard is always the most suitable choice.
 
Airing Cupboard for me. Generally it will just take the same room that the hot water tank used to occupy and it will give the cupboard some warmth so it can carrying on doing the same job as before.
 
Mines in the airing cupboard, the boiler gives off a bit of heat too so the airing cupboard is warm if you wanted to put towels in there. Also means its easy to access for servicing / re-pressurising etc.
 
Word of advice; you need to be able to inspect the entire length of the flue from combi to exhaust to the outside world, if you cant then British Gas and co wont take it on and your probably in violation of CORGI or something (im not a gas man). We had a combi in an airing cupboard, with the flue going into the void in the wall and then up through the roof - caused me no end of problems.
 
Thanks folks - these are some really good insights. I think we'll stick it in the airing cupboard as its a fairly huge space anyway, so plenty of room left for towels a safe distance away,
 
FlyingFish said:
Airing cupboard all day long unless you really need the space.
One of the biggest complaints people have is how long it takes to get hot water out of the tap. This is due to combis not losing heat into the pipework like a hot water cylinders. So the further the pipework has to run the more water you have to run off before you get hot through.
Usually the airing cupboard is central in the house and not too far from all the taps. The only thing I would do extra would be to take out the old 22mm hot pipework (if you have any) and make it 15mm.
Click to expand...

What is the advantage of decreasing the pipe size? (other than increased friction/reduced flow..)
 
Presumably to reduce the amount of cold water that's stood in the pipe and needs to be pulled off.

You'd have to have a really long run to make it worthwhile.
 
I had an old system replaced in the airing cupboard. Honestly if you don't need the space in the garage then get it relocated to the garage.

An overlooked benefit is you remove a leak risk from upstairs inside the house to the garage! Great when the boiler does eventually go wrong.

Also you future proof your options as theres going to be more space in the garage if you want to go back to a tank option surely?
 
Ours is in the garage, best place for it, don't want to hear that thing all the time. Its on the wall that is the house, so the pipes go straight into the house. Freezing is a non issue, its the best place for it, if it wasnt in the garage i would then need a frost stat for the pipework and the boiler would fire up exactly the same as it does now.
 
bremen1874 said:
Presumably to reduce the amount of cold water that's stood in the pipe and needs to be pulled off.

You'd have to have a really long run to make it worthwhile.
Click to expand...

Correct and not necessarily ;)

A lot of modern taps/showers and fittings nowadays are designed to be more economical/efficient with water. Which means they draw it off slower by using less, which means having to wait longer just to empty a 22mm pipe and nearly all cylinder systems have the hot piped in 22mm. If you can fit the boiler in the garage and keep the pipe runs short to the taps then great. But usually the airing cupboard is more favourable. If noise is a concern then get something like a Vaillant, they have a quiet mark accreditation.
Several boilers on the market also have preheat abilities, which shortens the wait for dhw even more. Vaillant, Worcester, Ideal etc.
There is also less likelihood of the condensate freezing when it's kept in the house. We went out to plenty of frozen condensate pipes located in people's garages earlier this year.
 
robj20 said:
Can also do like I have done and run the hot water in 10mm. Reduces the amount needed to draw off first.
Click to expand...

Disadvantage of that surely is that you'll overall be reducing the flow rate (due to increased friction)

I know what you mean though, my shower takes a while to get hot, but the pressure/flow is good!
 
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