Is this gas safe? The Perfect House has the boiler in a main bedroom...

[Fairgrove]

Posting here as well as in Property as not sure which is best for the topic!

We've found our perfect house to buy and had our offer accepted. It's 100% ready to move into with no extension or renovation work needed as it's been done by the current owners recently. There's a loft conversion that's used as a main bedroom with a separate dressing room and shower room. But gas boiler is in the main bedroom and I can't stop worrying about this. It was sited there when the loft was just used for storage and wasn't moved elsewhere when the loft conversion was done. It's in an alcove with the correct space all around it and is located behind an insulated, lift off panel and is sited on the external wall of the loft. The bedroom is currently used by a child. Moving it now would be very costly and messy and would involve taking up lots of newly laid flooring. I've had a qualified gas engineer take a look at the property listing and that's what they've told me. They've also told me it's fine too have a room sealed boiler in a bedroom so long as is properly maintained etc. The boiler is over 10 years old and is annually serviced and we'd continue to do that, though might well replace it given its age. There are mains and battery CO2 alarms in the room. But I'm stressing about the albeit tiny risk of CO2 poisoning. And less so about noise. AIBU? Is an annual service by a qualified engineer and battery & mains CO2 alarms enough to protect us sleeping in there?

In our house now, the boiler is in the loft which is just used for storage, just inside the loft hatch and the loft hatch is right outside the doors to two of the first floor bedrooms so the boiler isn't far away from the bedrooms. Is this any different risk-wise as it's never bothered me ? I can't work out if I'm worrying unnecessarily about the possible new house. But surely a boiler located in a utility room or garage is much safer in the unlikely event of a CO2 leak? Are CO2 alarms 100% reliable? My anxiety on this is getting out of hand. Am I losing perspective / being ridiculous?

Ours is like this, older and it's fine. Like you I was a bit nervous at first. Get it serviced every year, get co alarms (not co2) that display the actual live concentration rather than just an alarm. Only problem we have is it does sometimes wake us when kicking in early in the morning in winter. We solved this by getting a smart thermostat and making sure it only kicks in overnight if it goes below like 10 degrees.

Good point about the taps, thanks.

Nope, it's carbon dioxide which is dense and therefore useful as a fire extinguisher as it sinks and smothers a fire. Carbon monoxide is slightly less dense than air.

I would be fine with this set up, so long as it's all approved, boxed in and regularly serviced with detectors.

It's fine. Just get it serviced annually and make sure the batteries in your co2 detector are tested

As others have said - it’s fine.

Make sure there’s a CO (not CO2) monitor.

Ha! Good point

I'm starting to think I have issues with anxiety but equally I'm not alone in my concerns about boilers in bedrooms so I guess it may or may not be relevant here. Rationally I know it's legal to fit a boiler and safe if done and maintained properly but equally I worry that in the event of an issue an alarm might fail and being asleep next to the problematic appliance would surely.be worse than having it downstairs in the same scenario?
Noise I can't be sure of until I'm living there. Might not be an issue if I'm awake anyway worrying about CM poisoning? 😬😆

Just get the burner seals checked / replaced for peace of mind. It’s an hour or two’s job for a Gas Safe engineer. Google the price of the seals kit (with new electrodes ideally ) then you’ll know if you are being quoted too much for the work.
If the boiler’s over 5 years old, get it done anyway as it will eventually need doing.
DH charges iro £150 - £200 depending on the price of the kit, they vary quite dramatically.

Thank you for this info.