Gas boiler- changing power switch to combi outlet for power cuts?

rccaulfield

curious
1. can a wall switch for my gas boiler be changed to a plug outlet/switch combi? Reason i'm asking is i'm buying a generator this winter for power cuts and this idea popped into my head. Plan would be, have the plug permantly plugged in and use the switch on the combi as normal switch but when power cuts plug plug into generators power?
2. Anyone know the wattage for running and starting presume its very low?

I wouldn't put a gas boiler on a generator, it can mess a printed circuit board up:(

Carlow52

have u considered the noise from the jenny, all very well on a building site with the ghetto blaster drowning it out but if you fire up a anything above 60dB(A) at night you will wake the dead.

Re frying the pcb, a good quality invertor will take care of that

rccaulfield

Carlow52 wrote: »

have u considered the noise from the jenny, all very well on a building site with the ghetto blaster drowning it out but if you fire up a anything above 60dB(A) at night you will wake the dead.

Re frying the pcb, a good quality invertor will take care of that

Its for power cuts so it won't be running at night mate, i'll leave it if theres any risk of damage to the pcb then! I've a few fan heaters i can run off it instead to keep the kiddies warm Thanks for advice!;)

Joey the lips

Tbh i dont think you will get many that will advise you. Its against rgii regulations. This is the primary reason.

Can you not invest in a supersayer.

DGOBS

RGII don't have any regulations! They are a registration body
I wish they did have regulations or codes of practice

heinbloed

What the OP looks for is a pretty standard installation in many buildings, no technical problem for the boiler or the competent installer....
An emergency electricity supply to the building's infrastructure can be integrated. Either an automatic switch-over or manually, working on demand.
Such installations are sometimes legally demanded by building legislations.
Contact an electrician.

The plumbing and heating forum is according to poster's comments obviously the wrong place to ask.....

Try the golden/yellow pages for "electrician" or "heating engineer" or "building infrastructure".


There are plug-in methods/devices for this scenario as well, commonly used and available from the shop. So it won't need an electrician or engineer on-site for installation, just his or her advise on the particular situation.

A grid seperator is a legal obligation with most of these installations. Here the electrician is the first adress to go.

An ordinary household boiler has a low electric energy demand, depending on the pump and the controls a battery driven emergency supply is propably enough.

heinbloed

heinbloed wrote: »

The plumbing and heating forum is according to poster's comments obviously the wrong place to ask.....

Is it better to ask the tradesman responsible for supplying the power to a boiler or the tradesman responsible for the impact on the boiler being run off a secondary power source, I have a lots of experience on the second and can answer, what is your experience of wiring or maintaining a boiler on a secondary power source?

rccaulfield

Joey the lips wrote: »

Tbh i dont think you will get many that will advise you. Its against rgii regulations. This is the primary reason.

Can you not invest in a supersayer.

Toddlers will be all over it!

heinbloed wrote: »

What the OP looks for is a pretty standard installation in many buildings, no technical problem for the boiler or the competent installer....
An emergency electricity supply to the building's infrastructure can be integrated. Either an automatic switch-over or manually, working on demand.
Such installations are sometimes legally demanded by building legislations.
Contact an electrician.

The plumbing and heating forum is according to poster's comments obviously the wrong place to ask.....

Try the golden/yellow pages for "electrician" or "heating engineer" or "building infrastructure".


There are plug-in methods/devices for this scenario as well, commonly used and available from the shop. So it won't need an electrician or engineer on-site for installation, just his or her advise on the particular situation.

A grid seperator is a legal obligation with most of these installations. Here the electrician is the first adress to go.

An ordinary household boiler has a low electric energy demand, depending on the pump and the controls a battery driven emergency supply is propably enough.

No probs can you move thread to electrical forum to get some feedback there?

gary71 wrote: »

Is it better to ask the tradesman responsible for supplying the power to a boiler or the tradesman responsible for the impact on the boiler being run off a secondary power source, I have a lots of experience on the second and can answer, what is your experience of wiring or maintaining a boiler on a secondary power source?

(Are you asking me of the mod there? I've never wired one myself just very handy around the house. The usual.)That was my thinking, i was unsure whether the system might need power at a different part of the circuit etc so thought it best to ask first here!

No my question was aimed at heinbold.

I will do my homework and try to find the type of secondary power source that a boiler manufacturer would be happy with.

Homework done:


There's no reason technically not to run a boiler from a generator or an inverter, however a few important points have to be checked:
 
1)    The voltage must be controlled within the normal limits for the Irish mains supply
 
2)    The waveform must be a sine wave, generators give this but some inverters don't.
 
3)    The system Earth to Neutral relationship must be as on the standard mains system, usually generator and inverter outputs are floating relative to Earth and that can give problems with flame detection. To overcome this the neutral output of the generator or inverter must be connected to the earth at the generator/inverter, also it may be necessary to provide an earthing rod.
 
 
In any case such as this the on-site electrician has the responsibility for ensuring that the installation remains safe and in compliance with the latest wiring regulations.
 


My own experiences are with generators that have had a negative impact on a boiler but the above should limit any negative effects.