House Insurance : Boiler Relocation

[ADurr]

My home has recently had a burst pipe and damage as a result to the boiler that was in the kitchen below.

It was a conventional boiler with cold and hot water tanks.

I'm told by plumbers that I'd had in that the boiler can't be located back where it was as its in a space between an opening window and door, where I can't get 300mm from either side.

They had quoted therefore to relocate the boiler into another suitable room, but my home insurance whom I have a claim with are saying the relocation cost is nothing to do with them.

Is there any obligation from the insurance to comply with building regs when it's reinstalled? My plumber won't put it back where it was as it'll be unapproved by GasSafe (previous location had been there for 25+ years).

Any help or guidance mostly appreciated!

 

[martygturner]

We had this issue and had a plume management kit fitted to raise the height 300mm above the door. Have they removed these now ? we only had ours done 8 months ago.

 

[ADurr]

Unfortunately not possible for us, the boiler was already close to the ceiling, so we can't go anywhere with the boiler but a different room completely.

 

[martygturner]

If its close to the roof why not just take it through the soffit and discharge at roof height, flue can go through 90 degrees although it limits the run.

 

[ADurr]

Flu in old location was out of side wall. There is a bedroom above kitchen and old location so can't run the flu up through there without losing space in the bedroom.

Apologies I should have said ceiling before and not roof in my first response, my bad.

 

[oldbutnotdead]

Will it improve your life if the boiler is moved to this new location?
If yes then can you afford to swallow the 'moving to new room' cost on the quote (which shouldn't be massive unless the new room is miles away).
After that you're into squabbling with insurers. If your policy is 'new for old' there's a good argument for insurers to cover the cost of complying with current building regs. The insurers will probably be hiding behind betterment, which may/may not be true.
Just seen your last post- a pic of the outside wall will allow the gas-safe on here to tell you whether a flue can exist on that wall.

 

[ADurr]

Flue can be seen at door height

Your right insurance is hiding behind betterment, and already said they will replace old for new but relocation is not their problem.

 

[oldbutnotdead]

View attachment 295313

Flue can be seen at door height

Your right insurance is hiding behind betterment, and already said they will replace old for new but relocation is not their problem.

Looking at that wall (again I'm no expert) I'm sure a flue of some sort will be possible but fugly.
What has your GSE suggested as an alternative location (and critically would you prefer the boiler in the new location)?

EDIT Bits of flue, plume kits, vertical access all get expensive. The cost of a Frankenplume may well exceed relocation cost....

EDIT 2 What boiler is gse planning to put in- different mfrs have different MIs on flues

 

[ADurr]

Suggested boiler in old airing cupboard location.

It would be a better location and ultimately we would probably put any extra to it in order to have a combi rather than conventional. House is semi, 3 bed, 1 bath and 7 rads, so more suited to a combi really.

 

[ADurr]

Baxi 630 (or the conventional equivalent of that)

 

[oldbutnotdead]

Mmm. How's cold water flow/pressure in your area? Tankage has its advantages, system or heat-only boilers have fewer moving parts so less to fail down the line. Plus boilers are not silent.

 

[ADurr]

Flow ok but not super high.
We'd be keen to get rid of the tanks to avoid the leak opportunity in the future.

Boiler in the airing cupboard isn't an issue for noise

 

[martygturner]

I would get the gutting cleaned out as a matter of urgency.

A short flue plume management kit would get the opening 300mm from all the windows and doors. 300mm is only the length of a school ruler. The plume kit goes on the outside of the building not on the inside and 300mm would be where that black wire is.
Plume management kits are not expensive sub £100.

 

[ADurr]

Interesting suggestion.

So according to building regs is it only the flue that needs to be spaced from openings, or internally are there restrictions also? Boiler edges etc too close...

 

[Mottie]

I'm told by plumbers that I'd had in that the boiler can't be located back where it was as its in a space between an opening window and door, where I can't get 300mm from either side.

I'm no expert but sounds like a load of cobblers to me. What about boilers that are specifically made to be fitted inside kitchen wall cupboards?