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Original poster

Has anyone ever resisted a central heating oil tank a looong way from the boiler?

17 replies

Giggorata · 07/01/2022 21:13

I live in an old property with the central heating boiler close to the boiler room at the back of the house. Probably pre dating the current regulations.
I want to extend the boiler room a bit, to make a nice utility/boot room. The door currently opens on to the yard, a few feet away from the kitchen back door, on the same wall. We have to go out into the rain to put a wash on.
So I’d like to join them by a sort of conservatory corridor. It is a narrow available space, with the tank (and outside loo) sited opposite to all this, approximately 4 feet across from the house. The tank and loo are attached to some brick built sheds, which have to stay as they are.
This will mean moving the tank, otherwise the access to it for maintenance and filling will be non existent.
So my questions are:
How far away can you site the tank?
Do you have to have another pump, over and above the one that the boiler uses to pump the oil?
What is best, burying the pipes, or running them unobtrusively around a wall?
Any other thoughts or advice?

Thanks in advance to anyone with any knowledge, experience or insights.

OP posts:
Original poster
Giggorata · 07/01/2022 21:15

Hells bells autocorrect AND NO DELETE FUNCTION, 🙄
I mean RESITE

OP posts:
partystress · 07/01/2022 21:32

Not sure about pumps and moving the tank, but ours is about 6 metres from the boiler on the other side of a brick built shed and a path, so I don’t think distance is a problem.

We have a handy plug in gizmo in the house now which monitors the level in the tank. It came with our new tank and is really useful.

Hebeee · 07/01/2022 23:59

Not the tank, but we relocated our oil boiler (well, to be precise it was a brand new one) in a completely different part of the property about four years ago.

The existing boiler was in an extension off the kitchen. We reconfigured the whole layout, moving the kitchen into another room and have since knocked through between the former kitchen and extension (now a living room) so didn't want the boiler in there!

We moved it to a brick built outbuilding on the opposite side of the house - probably about ten metres from the tank's location.

We also have a plug-in gauge to tell us when the tank is running low....

Ariela · 08/01/2022 01:00

Nowadays the oil companies prefer your oil tank to be accessible directly alongside the road so they don't have to fish out loads of pipes to pump it in.

RunRunGingerbreadMan · 08/01/2022 07:37

Our oil tank is about 15-20m or so away from the house so I don't think it matters.

cloudtree · 08/01/2022 07:42

My tank is about 80m from the house.

TheDivineOddity · 08/01/2022 08:19

We moved our tank out of an attached 'tank room' because it needed replacing and putting one back there was not allowed due to current regulations (the boiler itself remains inside the house).
We sited the new tank about ten metres away from the house and buried the pipes. No pump but we did need to do calculations regarding the height of the tank in relation to the boiler.
Your tank/oil engineer will be able to advise you properly, there are rules about how near to a building the new tank can be.
We have a plug in device in the house which accurately displays our oil level which is absolutely brilliant and means no more guessing.

Trodonplug · 08/01/2022 08:28

Nowadays the oil companies prefer your oil tank to be accessible directly alongside the road so they don't have to fish out loads of pipes to pump it in.

Distance from the boiler not a problem (ours is about 20 metres, engineer team dug a deep trench by hand, lined it with pea shingle I seem to recall) but do watch out for how far it now is from the road as mentioned above. Ours is now at the end of our back garden and our supplier only has one tanker with a hose long enough, so we always have to specify when ordering.

Runninghorse · 08/01/2022 08:35

Are you talking at the oil storage tank? I moved mine away from the house to the end of the garden (about 60ft) - I haven’t noticed any difference (except that there is no longer a faint whiff of oil in my kitchen). It seems usual round here and the oil company deliver without any trouble

Runninghorse · 08/01/2022 08:44

There are lots of regulations about where you can site tank. It needs to be a certain distance away from buildings and fences from what I remember. In addition, I would think carefully before siting it near a boundary that backs on to a public road – oil theft is rife around here and I imagine it will get worse if fuel prices rise.

Bumpinthenight · 08/01/2022 08:58

Our pipes were buried then when we came to have a new boiler we were told it was best not to bury them in case there was a leak so now they run round the edge of the fence.

We now have an outside boiler - not sure if that is something you might want to consider.

The tank should be at least 1.8m away from any non-fire resistant building or construction. I don't think there is a maximum distance it can be from the house.

Be aware that if you have an old oil tank, if you want to resite it you may have to replace the tank to comply with regulations so that may up your costings.

Ariela · 08/01/2022 11:44

If your oil tank is old, and you move it, you may have to replace it to the latest standards (we had to change ours to bunded)

SourMilkGhyll · 08/01/2022 11:56

There are lots and lots and lots of regulations regarding the siting of oil tanks, so you definitely need to read up on those - things like distances from fences and walls, and surfaces they sit on, and double skinned containers etc

In terms of distance from the boiler how far are you thinking? From your description it doesn't sound too far.

Consider the timing of it all. You will have to run down your oil tank before it can be moved otherwise it will be too heavy to move. That probably means moving it during the summer when heating is not necessary and you can survive without hot water for a couple of days.

It might take a while to find someone willing to do the work. We had very few options within our region and none locally.

thegcatsmother · 08/01/2022 14:45

We had our tank replaced, so they pumped the oil around to enable the tanks to be moved and replaced. It took a day. Our tank is sited at the end of the yard, and the boiler is the Stanley (like a Rayburn), which is in the kitchen. It all works fine.

Original poster
Giggorata · 08/01/2022 16:18

Thank you everyone for your advice and info.
It has helped me decide where, when and how we will replace and resite the tank, along with the building work.

Now all I need is a builder…

OP posts:
Shmithecat2 · 08/01/2022 16:21

Our oil tank is at least 30 metres from the boiler, if not more.

Asdf12345 · 08/01/2022 18:26

Our tank must be at least 15m from the house and up the hill. It gravity feeds the boiler in the cellar and Rayburn in the kitchen. No pumps.

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