Air Spillage Test

[brum]

Hi guys this is a new one on me apparently a test needs to be undertaken when a room contains a combustible appliance (in this case a wood burning stove) where extractor fans are present to determine any back draughts etc.Does any one of you fine gents have any experience on this .

 

[IDCHAPPY]

You're supposed to take into account any adverse draught conditions, mostly with open flued appliances i tthought?

 

[kozak1968]

Standard for open flue gas appliances and would be the same for wood burning open flue appliances. I m sure a HEATAS installer will explain in more detail

 

[brum]

I am not a gas engineer but a domestic plumber bathroom fitting etc on this job I am connecting up a grant outdoor combi with not a bad record of installing oil fired boilers tanks etc and before you try to shoot me down am aiming toward OFTEC which is not a legal requirement here in Scotland..brum

 

[dancinplumba]

Would you not do it for any fueled open flued appliance ? If not why not ?

 

[lame plumber]

me thinks out plumber doesnt understand what a simple spillage test is! the fact you dont have to be oftec or heatas isnt an excuse in the eyes of the law when your custards keel over fm co poisoning, you just have to be able to prove your competence to the beak, how would you achieve that, based on the fact you are having to ask about a simple safety test?

 

[kris]

We done an extension quite recently that had an open planned living room n kitchen and the wood burner which wasn't into a chimney but a vertical flue up through the living room roof and hetas and building control required us to smoke bomb the stove while lit and run cooker hood extractors etc to make sure no affect on flue performance, these tests are documented on the manufacturers instalation guide, back page like benchmark,

 

[kris]

When I say us , I had to give the guy a smoke pellet as he'd ran out lol,

 

[Reg Man]

Standard safety testing for all open flued appliances whether solid fuel or gas, just a different process for carrying out the test.

 

[brum]

me thinks out plumber doesnt understand what a simple spillage test is! the fact you dont have to be oftec or heatas isnt an excuse in the eyes of the law when your custards keel over fm co poisoning, you just have to be able to prove your competence to the beak, how would you achieve that, based on the fact you are having to ask about a simple safety test?

Maybe you misunderstood me I have not done any of the plumbing or heating on this job nor have I installed wood burner but simply connecting an external oil boiler.The customer has done it all himself and asked me what a spillage test was to which I answered I don't know but will ask the question .I install only and get others to commission so no I have no exp in undertaking"a simple safety test" as you call it this is why I asked the question after all is this not what the forums for??..brum

 

[lame plumber]

personally, I would never go near jobs like that, it all ends in tears one way or another, the forum is to advice qualified people in whats they need to know, especially newly qualified, not to let idiots kill their families on the gas side of things, which needs to be extended to oil and solid fuel, but to date not enough lemmings are killing themselves with those fuels, but with the push on pellet burners etc, its bound to rise.
But the main reason I dont help idiot diyers, is I spent a lot of time and money learning my trade, in order to comply with the law and keep folks safe, they want all this information for free!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Simon F]

generally the guide is don't have an extractor fan in the same room as the log burner.

is the guy getting it registered/checked with the council?
sounds worrying!

 

[Simon F]

what appliance is it? quite likely it is not fitted in line with manufacturer's instructions.

eg - from firefox instructions :-
Care should be taken that all flues, hearths, and combustion air supplies are in accordancewith the current Building Regulations, Local Authority By-laws, British Standards
and Codes of Practice—the Firefox 5 has no ventilation requirement but the Firefox 8
should have a minimum 2145mm2 or 3.22in2 of permanent air entry opening or openings.
Care should be taken that these openings can not become obstructed. Considerations
and provisions must be made for any other appliances requiring ventilation. An
extractor fan must not be used in the same location as the appliance.
This appliance is not to be used with a shared chimney.

 

[brum]

generally the guide is don't have an extractor fan in the same room as the log burner.

is the guy getting it registered/checked with the council?
sounds worrying!

Hi there it is an open plan room consisting of lounge kitchen and diner it is BC who want test done thanks for your constructive reply..brum

 

[kris]

I think added ventilation along with a flue fan , I think,

 

[kris]

The sheer size of room as well,

 

[Reg Man]

The answer will be in the manufacturer instructions for the appliance.

 

[Reg Man]

If your not qualified/competent for this type of work, you should not be getting involved. Get a Hetas or similar scheme engineer to deal with it.