Re Baxi Bermuda 401 OldSchool back boiler - new regs?

[brontozaur]

Hi all,

I have a flat that has the Baxi 401 back boiler that exhausts to the chimney. I am happy with the boiler, it's very simple and serves me well. I am about to book the annual gas safety inspection, but then I found this on one of the websites: 'IMPORTANT NOTICE: Some properties, mainly flats and apartments, have been built with boiler flues which cannot be inspected because they are hidden behind walls or ceilings. From 1 January 2013, any Gas Safe registered engineer will classify the boiler as At Risk, this means that they will turn the boiler OFF until inspection hatches have been fitted in appropriate places'. In my case, the boiler has exhaust to the roof chimney, it's in the internal wall separating two flats, and my flat is on the 1st floor out of 3. Now I'm pretty sure the gas eng won't be able to climb on the roof and see the entire chimney; I remember during the last inspection the guy simply used some sort of white test smoke and went outside to check if it's coming out. Does this new regulation change anything for me? Is it meant to force people to ditch old boilers like mine? I would be grateful if someone knowledgeable could clarify if this new regulation has any effect in my case.
Also, perhaps someone could recommend a good old school gas eng in SE London who could service my old baxi (like clean the elements etc and not just do the test)?
Many thanks

 

[kirkgas]

The new reg is only for room sealed boilers NOT your BBU, however it is important that you get it checked fully and properly, an open flued boiler such as yours expels the fumes into the chimney, if they chimney is blocked those fumes re enter the room and can be very dangerous, if properly serviced and confirmed as working including all checks on ventilation etc then the risks are minimal, I would advocate the fitting of a CO alarm as extra safety,
PS these appliances are very basic and simple however they aren't as economical as new ones, but are far cheaper to repair, so it's all about weighing up the pros and cons of keeping it, choose your engineer wisely as I can guarantee you there will be plenty who don't have the experience of these and will sway you to renew as they aren't sure what they are doing

 

[ashwilson]

The guy servicing it should also check the route of chimney including loft space... Not just look outside.

 

[nysk2008]

a good clean out and all relevant safety checks incl ventilation (cant say on an open forum) will see this thing sweet - as above, make sure you employ a lad or lady that is used to back boilers as a few fitters I know don't really know what their up to on these beasts

 

[diamondgas]

The guy servicing it should also check the route of chimney including loft space... Not just look outside.

LOL ... ever tried it .. You'll find that you check where practcable. There use to be a great deal of three story flats filled with firesides here in newcastle. No access to the loft space and by the time you got to the ground floor and ran 300yds up the street so that you could actually see the terminals the smoke had all but disapeared. You then had to hope that the intercoms still worked so you could get back in!!! Ground floor flat went through the next two livingroom's above so you had a chance of getting outside to see it puff away but no chance of checking the floors above!!! In the real world you do what you can .. IMHO