Back Boiler

Boysey

Hey Guys,

Bought a House Recently and at the time the Estate Agent said there was a back boiler. Now to the left of the Fireplace there's a switch (shoulder height) and an opening / press down below. Inside the fireplace itself it appears that the top part slides forward and back.

Now we normally use oil to heat the house, but if you're sitting around for the day a fire is nice, and it would be even better if it heated the rads and water while it was at it.

So how can I confirm if I have a back boiler or not? And if I can confirm if one is in place how does one normally operate a back boiler?

Thanks
James

ircoha

the switch is prolly for the circulation pump that is prolly in the press below.

The slidey thing is either a damper to close the fireplace when not being used to reduce heat-loss up the flue or else is a part of the back boiler setup, when pulled fwd the flames are diverted between two heat exchangers in the back boiler.

bbam

Boysey wrote: »

So how can I confirm if I have a back boiler or not?

When the fire isn't lit have a scrape round the back of the fire area, if its metal then thats your BB, if there is nothing but concrete to be found then there is no BB.


And if I can confirm if one is in place how does one normally operate a back boiler?

Be careful here... you need to ensure the circulating pump and thermostat are working and set-up.. If you light a decent fire and the water isn't circulating, the water will boil and build a head of pressure, not good :eek:

The set-up is probably as ircoha described... just make sure he pump comes on before loading on a huge fire..

Calluna

Might not be related enough to post here...but seeing as ye mentioned dampers... are they relatively easy to get/install? We're building at the moment and will have a stove and also open fire. To help with air tightness, could we put in a damper in the open fire/stove chimneys (two separate chimeys). Is this similar to the thing people install to shut down chimney fires or am I totally mixed up?

Thanks

ART6

Calluna wrote: »

Might not be related enough to post here...but seeing as ye mentioned dampers... are they relatively easy to get/install? We're building at the moment and will have a stove and also open fire. To help with air tightness, could we put in a damper in the open fire/stove chimneys (two separate chimeys). Is this similar to the thing people install to shut down chimney fires or am I totally mixed up?

Thanks

The dampers used on open fires are normally (as has been said in this thread) associated with back boilers, and are usually just a simple steel plate with a hook on one side that allows it to be pulled across to divert the fire through the boiler. Many (most?) stoves, including wood burners, come with a damper already fitted in the smoke pipe and intended to regulate the "draw" through the fire chamber to stop the fuel burning away too fast.

bbam

There was a breif period where flue dampers were fitted to standard open fires... early 70's ish...
These however I understand they fell out of favour as many houses were smoke damaged from forgetting to open them....

I rented a house for a few years that had this and a steel sump sank into the ground which would collect about a weeks worth of ash before requiring cleaning, it lifted out with a handle bit like a bucket...

cheers
bam

Boysey

Hey Folks,

Thanks for your help so far... I'd a bit of a fire going last night, and the pump switch on but nothing seemed to be happening. As suggested I pulled the damper bit forward and a little while later the rads started to heat and I could hear the pump whirring (quietly, nothing too alarming )...

The fire was on it's way out at that point, but before I go hell for leather are there any best practices one should follow? Should I only keep the damper open for a while? And should I keep the pump running all the time or switch it off once I've got the damper closed up?

Don't want to go blowing my boiler / chimney stack up! :eek:

Thanks again,
James

bbam

good news so far...

Ideally the pump should be ran from a thermostat rather than a manual switch, this would switch on the pump any time the fire is lit and the water heats... It would go off when the water cools down..

I'd recommend getting this added if its not there

As for opening and closing the damper its all personal preference.. You will get more room heat with the damper in and more heat to the rads with the damper out...
We usually fire her up with the damper out and then half closed when she gets roaring.. By this stage the water to the rads just needs a top up of heat rather than full blast.. You'll get a feel for it..

I'd be reluctant to use it much if its not on a thermostat..
look at this...
http://www.azom.com/News.asp?NewsID=12254

Enjoy..
bam

Boysey

Yikes, that would not be good...

The pump only seemed to come on after a while... Wasn't running from the beginning. Does make it seem like there is a thermostat? In that it only starts pumping when it gets to a certain temperature?

Either way, probably wouldn't be that bad of an idea to get someone in the know to come and take a look at it.

Thanks again guys,
James

ART6

These systems often have an isolating switch that stops the back boiler pump from running if another heating circuit (like an oil or gas boiler) is running. That stops the other circuit heat from operating the BB thermostat, starting it's pump, and so using the BB as a radiator to heat the chimney:rolleyes:. If your pump starts up after the fire has been going for a while then the circuit must have a thermostat. It's waiting for the boiler to heat up, and that takes time.