I currently have a gas combi boiler wall mounted inside a cupboard in a
bathroom used for rented accommodation. The cupboard door begins about 120cm
above floor level.

I wish to reorganise the bathroom to ad a shower enclosure and the obvious
place for the bath is for the bath end to be under this cupboard. I presume
that this would not be acceptable to electrical regulations as a person
standing in the bath could open the door and touch the boiler. Would this be
acceptable if the cupboard was locked?

Many thanks for the advice, David

"DB" wrote in message
...
I currently have a gas combi boiler wall mounted inside a cupboard in a
bathroom used for rented accommodation. The cupboard door begins about
120cm
above floor level.

I wish to reorganise the bathroom to ad a shower enclosure and the obvious
place for the bath is for the bath end to be under this cupboard. I
presume
that this would not be acceptable to electrical regulations as a person
standing in the bath could open the door and touch the boiler. Would this
be
acceptable if the cupboard was locked?

Many thanks for the advice, David



Not at all Acceptable DB. Not knowing the exact layout of the site I have
to say also, you'll need to look out for the pipework going to and coming
from the boiler as well.

The boiler, of course, could only have one cable bundle coming from the main
control centre in another room, and, if this is the case, then all switching
is outwith the bathroom and the cables to the boiler should properly
insulated with no bare ends sticking out all over the place. That would be
acceptable, but only if the wiring is properly covered with something that
protects it from moisture and mechanical damage.

All pipework should currently be earth bonded if the property has need for
this, so that shouldn't be a cause for concern either.

If you're installing a polycarbonate or glass-fibre bath against pipes from
a boiler, then you may find the bath will melt around the point of contact.
So the bath under the cupboard against or very close to the pipes may not be
a good idea.

Any more info' on the total layout, with measurements, would help.


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I currently have a gas combi boiler wall mounted inside a cupboard in a
bathroom used for rented accommodation. The cupboard door begins about
120cm
above floor level.

I wish to reorganise the bathroom to ad a shower enclosure and the
obvious
place for the bath is for the bath end to be under this cupboard. I
presume
that this would not be acceptable to electrical regulations as a person
standing in the bath could open the door and touch the boiler. Would this
be
acceptable if the cupboard was locked?

Many thanks for the advice, David



Not at all Acceptable DB. Not knowing the exact layout of the site I have
to say also, you'll need to look out for the pipework going to and coming
from the boiler as well.

The boiler, of course, could only have one cable bundle coming from the
main
control centre in another room, and, if this is the case, then all
switching
is outwith the bathroom and the cables to the boiler should properly
insulated with no bare ends sticking out all over the place. That would
be
acceptable, but only if the wiring is properly covered with something that
protects it from moisture and mechanical damage.

All pipework should currently be earth bonded if the property has need for
this, so that shouldn't be a cause for concern either.

If you're installing a polycarbonate or glass-fibre bath against pipes
from
a boiler, then you may find the bath will melt around the point of
contact.
So the bath under the cupboard against or very close to the pipes may not
be
a good idea.

Any more info' on the total layout, with measurements, would help.




Thanks for your reply - perhaps I was not too clear in the original post.

The boiler is already installed wall mounted in an airing cupboard in the
bathroom. The boiler and airing cupboard door are both about 120cm above
floor level. All plumbing from the boiler is inside the cupboard, there is
no way pipes from the boiler could come into contact with the bath as there
is the wall in between. All pipework inside the airing cupboard is clearly
earth bonded.

The visible electrics inside the airing cupboard to the boiler are as
follows: two mains type leads and an earth enter a wall mounted control box
adjacent to the boiler, from this two smaller leads connect to the boiler.
This is all very well sealed, and although not in trunking this could easily
be added.

The potential problem is that with the door to the cupboard open the
horizontal distance from the edge of the bath to the boiler is about 40cm
and so it could be touched by someone standing (not sitting), which is why I
wondered is putting a lock on the door makes the boiler, in effect, in a
separate room.

Thanks again for any help, David

"DB" wrote in message
...
I currently have a gas combi boiler wall mounted

snipped

Thanks for your reply - perhaps I was not too clear in the original post.

The boiler is already installed wall mounted in an airing cupboard in the
bathroom. The boiler and airing cupboard door are both about 120cm above
floor level. All plumbing from the boiler is inside the cupboard, there is
no way pipes from the boiler could come into contact with the bath as
there
is the wall in between. All pipework inside the airing cupboard is clearly
earth bonded.

The visible electrics inside the airing cupboard to the boiler are as
follows: two mains type leads and an earth enter a wall mounted control
box
adjacent to the boiler, from this two smaller leads connect to the boiler.
This is all very well sealed, and although not in trunking this could
easily
be added.

The potential problem is that with the door to the cupboard open the
horizontal distance from the edge of the bath to the boiler is about 40cm
and so it could be touched by someone standing (not sitting), which is why
I
wondered is putting a lock on the door makes the boiler, in effect, in a
separate room.

Thanks again for any help, David



Ah Ha !!! I see, said the blind man. So it would be only the door of the
airing cupboard that would swing open above the bath? If it is, then the
door would need to be lined with heat resistant material on the inside, and
should not be open louver. Something like 18mm plywood with heat resistant
lining would do the trick.

A proper screw-down lock and not just a latch would need to be fitted, along
with good venting from another room adjacent to the airing cupboard so no
fogging from steam can build up around the boiler and the electrics.

It would be best to get advice from the CORGI advisory people on this to
keep yourself safe and not sorry.

Good luck with it.

The potential problem is that with the door to the cupboard open the
horizontal distance from the edge of the bath to the boiler is about 40cm
and so it could be touched by someone standing (not sitting), which is why
I
wondered is putting a lock on the door makes the boiler, in effect, in a
separate room.

My understanding is that it does. The use of a "tool" (in this case a key,
but a screwdriver would also suffice) is required to make a compartment
otherwise in reach to be "outside the zones". You should still put the
system on an RCD, and the boiler must be room sealed (balanced or fanned
flue). I believe it actually acceptable to have a boiler directly in a
bathroom not enclosed, but not within 40cm of the bath.

Christian.

In article ,
"Christian McArdle" writes:
My understanding is that it does. The use of a "tool" (in this case a key,
but a screwdriver would also suffice) is required to make a compartment
otherwise in reach to be "outside the zones". You should still put the
system on an RCD, and the boiler must be room sealed (balanced or fanned
flue). I believe it actually acceptable to have a boiler directly in a
bathroom not enclosed, but not within 40cm of the bath.

I believe it's 60cm horizontally from the edge of the bath,
but that's from memory.

I have thought a few times that there would be a market for a
boiler manufacturer who actually designed their boiler to work
near a shower. Given the unit is already room-sealed, I doubt
it would be much effort, and it would reduce the 60cm figure,
making their boiler a possibility in situations where others
couldn't be used.

--
Andrew Gabriel

I have thought a few times that there would be a market for a
boiler manufacturer who actually designed their boiler to work
near a shower.

Almost like a massive gas shower that happens to heat the radiators, too?

I'm not sure many shower cubicles would be large enough. ;-)

Christian.

"Christian McArdle" wrote
| I have thought a few times that there would be a market for a
| boiler manufacturer who actually designed their boiler to work
| near a shower.
| Almost like a massive gas shower that happens to heat the radiators, too?
| I'm not sure many shower cubicles would be large enough. ;-)

To meet the needs of post war housing, there were prefabricated frameworks
with a hot water cylinder, with kitchen sink taps already mounted on one
side and bath taps on the other side. Build the walls and furniture round
them.

Owain

To meet the needs of post war housing, there were prefabricated frameworks
with a hot water cylinder, with kitchen sink taps already mounted on one
side and bath taps on the other side. Build the walls and furniture round
them.

Nowadays, you can get complete prefabricated bathrooms, right down to the
plumbing, tiling and bog roll holder that just get craned into position.

Christian.

On Thu, 04 Nov 2004 16:32:50 +0000, Andrew Gabriel wrote:

In article ,
"Christian McArdle" writes:
My understanding is that it does. The use of a "tool" (in this case a key,
but a screwdriver would also suffice) is required to make a compartment
otherwise in reach to be "outside the zones". You should still put the
system on an RCD, and the boiler must be room sealed (balanced or fanned
flue). I believe it actually acceptable to have a boiler directly in a
bathroom not enclosed, but not within 40cm of the bath.

I believe it's 60cm horizontally from the edge of the bath,
but that's from memory.

I have thought a few times that there would be a market for a
boiler manufacturer who actually designed their boiler to work
near a shower. Given the unit is already room-sealed, I doubt
it would be much effort, and it would reduce the 60cm figure,
making their boiler a possibility in situations where others
couldn't be used.

The problem is that whilst the combustion chamber is room sealed the
electrics are scarcely better protected than a TV set (say) from
water ingress.


--
Ed Sirett - Property maintainer and registered gas fitter.
The FAQ for uk.diy is at www.diyfaq.org.uk
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