Do we need to re-site our boiler (& if so where...)

[johnImonlydancing]

Just wondered if anyone has a similar experience... we're moving to a house which has a modern Vaillant boiler sited in what would be our child's room, in a cupboard. Is this dangerous? Had comments from father in law (not British resident, he's comparing to regulations and practices in the USA and other European countries) that it should be sited outside, ideally. I don't see how we can get it outside, it's a small terrace with no real space to create an extension/ utility. We mihght be able to get it into another room but I don't know how practical that will be. WWYD?

It's not seen as ideal but it isn't actually unsafe (you can buy a CO monitor to ensure that). Most boilers make a bit of noise firing up in the morning and can chug a bit once they are running so they're not a brilliant addition to a bedroom. Can it really not be moved to the bathroom (and a cupboard built around it) or the kitchen?

As far as I'm aware, it's not illegal or dangerous providing the boiler is correctly fitted and vented and the overflow is outside - it does need to be on an external wall, but not outside, and I think it's the flue needs to be accessible within whatever housing it's in.

Is this a house you are buying or renting? If you will be renting then by law the landlord needs to ensure it has been safety tested - you need to be given a copy of the certificate - and it should be regularly serviced.

Install a carbon monoxide alarm for peace of mind.

Just realised you must be buying due to your thread title...

Is it gas?

if it is a modern boiler in the UK, it will be room-sealed and have a balanced flue that draws air from outside and blows the (not very hot) steamy flue gases outside. The flue is made of two concentric tubes, the flue gas flows through the inner one, so even if it did leak, it would get sucked into the air intake, and not escape into the house. The same method is used in Northern and Western Europe, and has been common for about 50 years. I don't know if other countries still use open boilers.

Old balanced flues were made of steel which eventually rust and leak, modern ones are made of a heat-resistant synthetic material (usually creamy white) which does not rust.

At the annual service, the seal will be tested, and the flue gases tested for CO content.

We have the boiler in our room. It can be noisy at times but the cupboard driwns a lot out.

If I was fitting it it would have gone elsewhere but I wouldn't bother moving it now iyswim.

A combi is likely to be more noisy than a conventional or system boiler, as it will fire up at high power whenever you turn a hot tap on, rather than just idling along at low power most of the time.

You may like to set the timer so it doesn't fire up from cold early in the morning or overnight.

Piglet (as ever) is right. It'll be a room sealed condensing or combi boiler. It is safe. More so with a co detector, but not dangerous. What's more vailant are a good brand. ( I'm biased - they're easy for and easy to fix) if you renew your boiler you don't need to relocate. If you keep existing boiler you need to service it regularly and perhaps install a detector.

We have the boiler in our bedroom fitted wardrobe - we are in an odd shaped almost mid terrace, ex-council, with massive windows so very little suitable external wall space. One neighbour was still council owned and from the flue outside they had their new boiler installed by the council in the same place in the other bedroom. The only other place I could have had mine was in the attic - but I didn't fancy having to keep going up there to change the settings etc. The original boiler was in the centre of the house and the flue ran all the way up through the house (through a boxed in section in a bedroom) and the attic - 4+ m long ...another neighbour still has that arrangement but I was told that involved extra stuff (fans or something?) in the flue and if it developed a leak gases could be potentially escaping anywhere in the house...
Also the flue can't be too near to any windows that open - and it ideally shouldn't vent out onto a neighbours property (in fact a flue sticking out of a wall could be considered over your boundary)
That was 10 years ago - the only caution I would add is how old is the boiler? Is it a condenser?
I am going to have mine replaced soon -it has to be a condenser. It will be a nightmare to site the drain - we could have one running straight down down a corner of the living room/kitchen (would need boxing in) into the kitchen drain but access under the floor is almost impossible there so it would be better then going outside ...into a soak away ...except I know from under the floor boards we are on bedrock..so that wouldn't be easy ... or under the floorboards along to the bathroom - so far it would need a pump...or straight out the wall and running a thick pipe along the outside of the building (which will look really ugly) to the downpipe or a thin one under the floor boards and then out (will be neater) -which is the one we are going for but will involve lifting the carpets/boards in two rooms etc ...and cost a bit more....

Got carried away ...forgot to say - if you do move your boiler remember you are going to be stuck with a 4 inch wide hole in your wall from the existing flue to patch up - depending on what the outside of your wall looks like might be fine or might be un slightly and/or expensive...

Thanks everyone, this is really very useful! Yes, we are buying and yes it is on an external wall. It is close to a window that opens though (it's a small room with jsut one external wall). We would always install C02 detectors for peace of mind anyway, so definitely in this room/cupboard. I am afraid I didn't know what sort of boiler it is (this is our first buy & very inexperienced!) but have looked up the particulars and it is a: wall mounted combi ?Vaillant' gas fired central heating boiler. Would a condensor be quieter?

The bathroom's small-ish and an awkward shape (an attic room) - we could get it in there potentially but it would take some time, would have to wait till we re-do the bathroom, probably. There are 2 built in cupboards, ex-airing cupboard type thing, where it could potentially go.

We are moving to a house with the combo boiler in the bedroom cupboard (although I think it's likely to be the spare rather than a DCs room).

We've ready contacted someone to see if it can be moved to give more room, I hadn't considered safety although our survey says it's fine. I am going to move it to the loft.

it is a CO detector, CO2 is what you breathe out. As PJ and others say, modern boilers are room-sealed and fail safe, so the detector is the third line of defence. Get an annual service and make sure there is building regs approval for it.

A boiler in the loft is not smart, hard to service and also hard to get at for the odd times you need to do something.

the noise issue is the only real consideration.

Haven't got condenser yet! so don't know about the noise - suspect it may be noisier but stand to be corrected.
Combi boilers are ones without a hot water tank - heat the water up as you use it. Type I have now. Sounds like the one you have.
But yours might be a condenser too - most modern combis are. (They need to fill a form in saying they really can't fit a condenser).
Condensers are more energy efficient (harness the heat from the flue gases before release) but that process causes condensation (inside the flue) so they have to have a drain. When they first came out they had small drains and if it ran on the outside in really cold weather they froze up and caused boiler breakdowns (especially in attics/second floors - on the ground floor you could just pour hot water on the outside of the pipe to defrost it!).
If it does have to go outside now they have to be bigger pipes (think it is 32mm - same as eg bathroom sink waste pipe) and still inside is better...
And the loft thing ...I was really glad I didn't have mine in there. It had a fault - 'damaged' in transit - so it used to keep shutting off - even in the bedroom if was a PIA till they worked out what the problem was (took a month or so) in the attic I would have probably ended up with the loft hatch permanently open...

Thanks guys. Yes, we will of course get it regularly serviced properly. And yes it is the sort without a hot water tank.
Loft does sound difficult to access, unless it is a loft conversion...? The way my parents' works is you can click a button and get the heating on immediately (skipping the time pre sets) if you need to - assume you need it quite accessible for that alone.

Vaillant are one of the best makes : their modern boilers are incredibly efficient (much better than most of the furnaces that people have in the USA)
leave it be, get a detector
and enjoy your new home

Looking for recommendations of good quality artificial plants of trellis that will hide an ugly external wall at the front of the house ?!

Ideally want something evergreen

Needs to be potted / able to move as it is covering up electric meter box so access is required

Thank you in advance!