Where to put Combi Boiler?

[Compact]

Gutting my 1st/2nd house so lots of questions to come:
Where Should I out my boiler?

1. In kitchen, though it is small and will take valuable space
   
2. In bathroom, less valuable, but can they be noisy for light sleepers in bedrooms next door?
   
   Cheers

[greentown]

Have just put one in a bathroom instead of a kitchen as there was no room in kitchen.

Would have preferred to put it in the kitchen - shorter run for hot water when using taps that are on/off a lot.

Could you fit it under the stairs? Had one there before, depends whether your semi is 'halls adjoining' with your neighbour - if not, flue could exit from side wall.

[Pannacotta]

As your kitchen is small then I'd put it in the bathroom and box it in, creating a mini airing cupboard for towels etc if there is room.
I have seen this done and I thought it worked well - its ice to have somewhere in the bathroom to store towels, even nicer if they get warm at the same time.

[GinPalace]

My combi is in my bathroom - not boxed in (yet - grr) the bedroom next door has no sound proofing from bathroom unfortunately but the boiler noise is neglible so I wouldn't worry too much about that.
In fact I think the noise would bother me more in the kitchen as I spend longer in there!

[FridayOLeary]

Is it possible under the stairs?

[PigletJohn]

Two things that are often forgotten, and then regretted for years:

1. put it close to an internal drain so that the condensate can go e.g. into the soil pipe or kitchen sink waste pipe indoors. If you run it outside, sooner or later it will probably freeze in exceptionally cold weather, which is exactly the time you don't want your boiler to stop working.
   
   
2. the flue will emit great clouds of steam in cold weather. So put it where this will not blow past your windows or otherwise be unsightly, and especially where it will not cause nuisance to your neighbours. You can put an extender on the flue to blow it upwards or sideways if that helps.

[ChippingInLovesEasterEggs]

It has to be on an outside wall (so this may limit your choices). Mine is going in the loft, is this an option for you?

[greyvix]

We have a boxed-in boiler in the bathroom. I wish I'd gone for a bigger cupboard, but use it to keep cleaning stuff out of sight. It's not noisy; you can hear it when someone is having a bath or shower, but the noise is not obtrusive at all.

[everythingtodo]

New combi condensers sound like mini jet fighters taking off (imo!).

As already mentioned think carefully about the prevailing wind.

[ClaimedByMe]

It doesnt have to be on an outside wall, mine is in an airing cupboard up the stairs

[narmada]

Ours is in the loft, as we have no plans to extend up there. We never hear it as a consequence and the main reason for putting it there was to not lose space in either the bathroom or kitchen, nor tie up a wall that was possibly going to be knocked down (kitchen) for an extension.

[TheSameButDifferent]

Mine is in the airing cupboard where the hot water/immersion used to be. The plumber came up with that idea. I've heard that you can have them in garages or other outbuildings too though. Your plumber would be able to give you a few choices, I would have thought.

[PigletJohn]

in garages, outbuildings and other unheated spaces (including lofts) you have to take extra precautions against freezing.

[wonkylegs]

I would seriously recommend not putting it in the loft or upstairs - new boilers have very sensitive cut offs and in cold weather the condensate runoffs freeze switching them off. If you can reach it you can defrost it to fix it. If not you have to wait for it to thaw. (which over the freeze 2 yes ago was for some weeks) My MIL (plumber) spent a lot of the winter going out to this particular problem. This new idea of putting boilers in lofts to save space is great until this particular winter problem occurs - it's rare enough for people to not think about it until it happens www.worcester-bosch.co.uk/mobile/customer-service/faqs/general-boiler-questions/common-winter-boiler-enquiries

[wonkylegs]

• years not yes

[BridgetJonesPants]

Our condensing boiler is in the loft......which has now been converted. Although the boiler is not on a wall next to our bedroom and is boxed in, I can still hear it when it's on - so it's never ever on when I'm in bed .

[TheSameButDifferent]

Mine has never frozen, and we have had severe weather at times.

[PigletJohn]

yours, maybe not.

but it's more common than you might think

[TheSameButDifferent]

I wonder if mine didn't, due to the frost protection feature being on. In very cold weather I would leave it at about 15, so the boiler kicked in if needed. GOOD to know it could happen though. I would never have thought of that.

[Bunbaker]

I would be wary of putting a boiler so close to the bedrooms because of the carbon monoxide risk and the noise.

Ours is in the kitchen on an outside wall. You can get a trace wire put in the outlet pipe to prevent it from freezing in cold weather

[ChippingInLovesEasterEggs]

Claimedbyme - is it a combi boiler?

[ClaimedByMe]

Yep, a worcester bosch only installed in December

[PigletJohn]

you can run the flues horizontally or vertically to the outside, some boilers can have their flues run 10 metres or more, and in Switzerland I have often seen them run up chimnneys from a boiler in the basement to emerge from a traditional pot on the roof. However in the UK you can't do this as any joints in the flue have to be exposed for inspection in case of leakage. AFAIK the usual size for a single length over here is about 2 metres.

[Compact]

Just to say
At the moment my current boiler is in the basement with flue up the chimney.
Would leave it like that, but I'm going to put a stove in the fireplace, so need to take over the chimney.

It is an outside wall, I'm looking at Vailants and my main question after sizing and efficiency with the noise.

Also thinking that if it's in an airing cupboard I could maybe line that to deaden some noise.
Will just have to see

[PigletJohn]

you could put it in the basement, run the flue up the wall then have an elbow to put it outside through the wall at some convenient point.

Modern condensing boiler exhaust is not hot enough to scald, but will make a big plume of white steam on a frosty day. As the flue will be visible for inspection you can have quite a long one (my boiler will support a 10metre flue in standard size, yours may do the same)