Hot water boiler location

Al Letellier_5

It's hard to say not seeing the "beast", but today's equipment is beginning to look like a piece of furniture and can be placed just about anywhere. There must be a logical reason why it was placed there. If direct vent as you mentioned, only clearance to combustibles and protection from a potential water leak are concerns. Can it be enclosed in a closet or covered up by some doors? Consult a pro about this should you purchase the home.

lrkrgrrl

Hot water boiler

Hi, I hope you kind folks can help. I'm shopping for a home, and just found out my trusty plumbing and heating guy has retired, or won the lottery, or something. One place I've looked at has a shiny new baseboard hot water system. That's good. But the boiler, which is direct vent, is standing out in the open at the end of a hallway, right outside of two of the bed rooms. That's bad. Isn't it? It seems there is a darn good reason why these beasts live in basements or Boiler Rooms. Can any one quote me chapter and verse on this?

lrkrgrrl

With all due respect, it most certainly looks like a boiler, and not "a piece of furniture." I will, of course have someone inspect, but I was hoping someone could give me a code reference regarding locating boilers in open living spaces.

John Mills_5

To

these wetheads on here, a boiler is a work of art, more valuable than furniture

Mijola

Location of the boiler

Is this building on a concrete slab, or is it constructed material?

The first concern I would have is to verify if the boiler is listed by the manufacturer for installation in the environment where it is located. Just because someone installed it there, does not mean that it was installed correctly.

Is the boiler installed on a combustible floor? If it is, is the boiler listed by the manufacturer to be installed on that floor, and with the proper (listed) clearances to other surrounding combustibles, as it is installed? Those clearances are not negotiable.

Putting a piece of sheet metal, wonder board, or in some cases even a concrete slab under a boiler placed on a wood floor (or other combustible surface), does not constitute installation on a non combustible floor.

The floor is the floor. The rest is floor covering. Some floor surfaces covering material (like sheet metal) may actually accelerate the transfer of heat. Check with the boiler manufacturer by using the Model Number of the boiler.

Regards,

Ed Carey

lrkrgrrl

Many thanks for your responses. Our local inspector liked it well enough to sign off, anyway. By the way, I like a good boiler as much as the next grrl, for function if not aesthetics. Especially after living with one of those so-called "efficient wall furnace" things for the last year.

jerry scharf_3

An inspector's sign-off may not mean much

Some inspectors are great, others don't have a clue. The fact that a sign-off happened does not mean that it meets codes, etc.

As Ed says, you want to start with the make and model of boiler and get the installation requirements. That will set the baseline for what can and can't be done. If it says you can't do it in the manual, you can't do it.

jerry