Hello,

Is it worth having a balanced flue? My boiler is in the kitchen next
to the door, so I cannot have a low level flue because it would be
within 600mm of the door. There is a chimney behind the boiler but the
grant "red" balanced flexi flue kit costs £600 plus vat. OTOH their
"orange" conventional flue kit costs just over £200: a third of the
cost. Is there any reason I have to have a balanced flue? Could I
stick with a conventional flue and save the cost?

There's already a 100mm steel flue in the chimney but the old boiler
was non-condensing. Am I right that this would have to be replaced
because the acidic condensate might attack the metal? If I went with a
non-condensing boiler (see other post), could I get away with using
the old flue?

Thanks,
Stephen.

"Stephen" wrote in message
...
Hello,

Is it worth having a balanced flue? My boiler is in the kitchen next
to the door, so I cannot have a low level flue because it would be
within 600mm of the door. There is a chimney behind the boiler but the
grant "red" balanced flexi flue kit costs £600 plus vat. OTOH their
"orange" conventional flue kit costs just over £200: a third of the
cost. Is there any reason I have to have a balanced flue? Could I
stick with a conventional flue and save the cost?

There's already a 100mm steel flue in the chimney but the old boiler
was non-condensing. Am I right that this would have to be replaced
because the acidic condensate might attack the metal? If I went with a
non-condensing boiler (see other post), could I get away with using
the old flue?


One of us is misunderstanding something! A balanced flue is one where the
appliance is sealed from its surroundings and the exhaust gases and the
incoming air share the same flue concentrically. In this sense, yes, a
balanced flue appliance is far better as there is no path for gas or flue
gases to enter the inside of the building and affect the occupants. With a
conventional flue, the air required is extracted from the room, requiring an
open path between the room and the gas burner. I do not know of appliances
where one can choose the two flues but would imagine a conversion to a
balanced flue would be expensive!


--
Bob Mannix
(anti-spam is as easy as 1-2-3 - not

In article ,
Stephen wrote:
Is it worth having a balanced flue? My boiler is in the kitchen next
to the door, so I cannot have a low level flue because it would be
within 600mm of the door. There is a chimney behind the boiler but the
grant "red" balanced flexi flue kit costs £600 plus vat. OTOH their
"orange" conventional flue kit costs just over £200: a third of the
cost. Is there any reason I have to have a balanced flue? Could I
stick with a conventional flue and save the cost?

I'm probably wrong but I don't think you can buy a non balanced flue
boiler anymore. The efficiency would be too low.

--
*Never miss a good chance to shut up *

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

On 15 Aug, 08:47, Stephen
wrote:
Hello,

Is it worth having a balanced flue? My boiler is in the kitchen next
to the door, so I cannot have a low level flue because it would be
within 600mm of the door. There is a chimney behind the boiler but the
grant "red" balanced flexi flue kit costs £600 plus vat. OTOH their
"orange" conventional flue kit costs just over £200: a third of the
cost. Is there any reason I have to have a balanced flue? Could I
stick with a conventional flue and save the cost?

Hi Stephen, I'm curious to know where the 600mm-from-the-door rule
comes from - see the thread on my own boiler situation.

On Fri, 15 Aug 2008 07:47:23 +0000, Stephen wrote:

Hello,

Is it worth having a balanced flue? My boiler is in the kitchen next to
the door, so I cannot have a low level flue because it would be within
600mm of the door. There is a chimney behind the boiler but the grant
"red" balanced flexi flue kit costs £600 plus vat. OTOH their "orange"
conventional flue kit costs just over £200: a third of the cost. Is
there any reason I have to have a balanced flue? Could I stick with a
conventional flue and save the cost?

There's already a 100mm steel flue in the chimney but the old boiler was
non-condensing. Am I right that this would have to be replaced because
the acidic condensate might attack the metal? If I went with a
non-condensing boiler (see other post), could I get away with using the
old flue?

Thanks,
Stephen.

Most, if not all, modern boilers will have a powered balanced flue. using
the a coaxial flue/duct.

Often older boiler did have choices of flue type. Usually between
conventional (= not room-sealed) and balanced.

Much of some of the question you may have is in the Boiler Choice FAQ.


--
Ed Sirett - Property maintainer and registered gas fitter.
The FAQ for uk.diy is at http://www.diyfaq.org.uk
Gas fitting FAQ http://www.makewrite.demon.co.uk/GasFitting.html
Sealed CH FAQ http://www.makewrite.demon.co.uk/SealedCH.html
Choosing a Boiler FAQ http://www.makewrite.demon.co.uk/BoilerChoice.html

On 2008-08-15, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In article ,
Stephen wrote:
Is it worth having a balanced flue? My boiler is in the kitchen next
to the door, so I cannot have a low level flue because it would be
within 600mm of the door. There is a chimney behind the boiler but the
grant "red" balanced flexi flue kit costs £600 plus vat. OTOH their
"orange" conventional flue kit costs just over £200: a third of the
cost. Is there any reason I have to have a balanced flue? Could I
stick with a conventional flue and save the cost?

I'm probably wrong but I don't think you can buy a non balanced flue
boiler anymore. The efficiency would be too low.


Maybe the OP was referring to an open flue (B23, no draught diverter,
forced ventilation)? Like www.halsteadboilers.co.uk/product_flueing.html
option E perhaps?

I would be interested when the time comes to replace my conventional
flue gas boiler because of the difficulty in relocating it.

Are there any serious safety or other gotchas? Are B23 flue kits
available from gas boiler manufacturers other than Halstead? (Grant
make oil fired only)

MJA

On 16 Aug 2008 09:45:36 GMT, MJA wrote:

I would be interested when the time comes to replace my conventional
flue gas boiler because of the difficulty in relocating it.

Hello,
I was looking at the Grant condensing brochure (downloadable pdf from
their web site). It says "all Grant boilers are supplied for
connection to either a stainless steel conventional flue or one of
Grants EZ_flue options."

I have the old boiler in the kitchen connected to a steel conventional
flue up the chimney. To convert this to a balanced flue would require
the Grant red flexi flue that would cost over £600 ex VAT, which seems
horrendously expensive.

The other option is to line the chimney with their conventional orange
flue kit at just over £200 ex vat. However, since the brochure
mentions conventional steel flues, I am not quite sure why I can't use
what I have got already? I thought the steel was attacked by the acid
condensate?

Thanks,
Stephen.

I just found this:
http://www.oftec.org/jargon.htm

" Open Flue: A chimney taking flue gases from an appliance which
terminates in the open air, usually above roof level. Masonry chimneys
must always be fitted with a flexible flue liner to prevent the gases
coming into contact with the chimney itself. The liner needs to be
replaced each time a boiler is fitted. An appliance connected to an
open flue must be provided with a combustion air supply directly from
the outside."

Why should a new boiler need a new flue?

On Fri, 15 Aug 2008 09:56:22 -0700 (PDT), Martin Pentreath
wrote:

I'm curious to know where the 600mm-from-the-door rule
comes from

I saw a diagram somewhere showing the distances the flue must be from
various objects. Now I am looking for it I cannot find it. I'll post
when I do. I thought it must be either the oftec site or a boiler
manufacturer's website. Sorry I cannot be of more help at the moment.

In article ,
Stephen wrote:
I'm curious to know where the 600mm-from-the-door rule
comes from

I saw a diagram somewhere showing the distances the flue must be from
various objects. Now I am looking for it I cannot find it. I'll post
when I do. I thought it must be either the oftec site or a boiler
manufacturer's website. Sorry I cannot be of more help at the moment.

The instructions for my Viessmann say 300 mm from an opening - even below
a window.

--
*If a pig loses its voice, is it disgruntled?

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.