advise on solid fuel system please

[alexmurchison]

hi all, now im oftec only so dont have much to do with solid fuel. however the estate to which i service and maintain has a tenant who is basically a bodger. he told the estate that i thought it was a good idea for him to fit a solid fuel burner and rip out the oil system. so now im meeting with the land agent and tenant to discuss the system. From servicing the boiler i know the layout of the system and told him in no uncertain terms the system wasnt suitable to be put onto a solid fuel system. so basically a little advice from someone who fits / installs solid fuel would be good ..
The existing system has a primary circuit of 22mm then 15mm to rads. ( i presume not suitable for solid fuel ? )
There is an existing stand alone log burner in the kitchen, to which the tenant says he will rip out, replace with a hugh solid fuel boiler connect to heating circuit a walah job done !!
Firstly im sure he shouldnt be doing this work himself, (as hes clueless, not incompetant)

so , does the chimney need to be lined ? does the system need a heat leak rad ? is an injector tee part of the requirement ? what sort of fire plate / protection is required ?

ps, im not wanting to install this system, just enforce the reasons why it isnt a suitable option.

 

[AWheating]

part j of the building regs will give you alot of information.

anybody can fit a solid fuel stove, but it must be passed by building control. The stove must be suitable for the area (ie. clean burning if required).

the best choice would be to employ a hetas qualified engineer to install the system and sign it off.

you will need 28mm primarys, to a grade a cylinder, heat leak rad/s, metal/fibreglass tank, copper overflow, heating connected via injector tee, hi and low limit stats on heating to stop the stove suffering thermal shock the list is long.

why dont you do the heatas courses and join a CPS and you can do the work? should cost about £1500

 

[Billy Bob Bob]

a,22mm is suitable on a pumped circuit with 15mm drops or feeds on SF,its the hot water that requires 28mm circuits
b,go no further if neither of you are heats registered or have no experience in installing solid fuel appliances,far more can go wrong with SF than gas,and more people die from bad installs with solid fuel appliances than gas-FACT

 

[tamz]

When i first installed solid fuel heating in the 70's the rads were piped in 6mm :smile:

 

[alexmurchison]

thanks for the replies, i havent done the Hetas course as not really enough call for it, there are loads round here that have done it and to be honest the oil side keeps me very busy. I dont want to install the solid fuel system or advise the tenant on how to install it, but if i know a few of the regs and fors or againsts, then i can advise the estate manager that it would be toooo costly to change the oil boiler and adapt the system to suit a soild fuel set up. From what i hear this particular tenant tried his hand at a similar set up in his previous house and after he moved out the proprty was found to be unsafe !! hence why the estate dont want him to attempt it in this house, and why they want me to explain the cost or whatever implications of changing the currrent set up.

 

[tamz]

You don't necessarily need a liner.
You need gravity HW(well you don't really but it gets complicated)
You need as said, a metal or fibre glass F&E, copper ball, copper overflow etc.
You may need a heat leak but not always
Mostly
You need to know what you are doing.

Leave it to the experts.