Open Coal Fire and Gas ?

clint123

Folk's I currently have an open fire, just heats the living room ( not the rads ) and I have gas , to heat the rads.

Is there anyway that I could get some work done to have the coal fire to heat the rads, and also keep the gas to heat them ?

years ago, we did have the coal fire heating the rads & water, but my parents got work done and got the gas in to heat the rads water instead.

if its possible, who would I need to contact, and do you think it would be expensive ?

tks for your advise

miller50841

A plumber is what you need.

gctest50

A good amount of the heat from an open fire just goes up the chimney.

A stove would be a better option and they are available with boilers built-in so it will heat the rads too.

Anyway, whatever you decide on, it needs to be carefully chosen by an actual plumber, otherwise it will end up being an expensive waste of time

Newer sort of stove :

http://www.fhtstoves.com/


(from: https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056844081 )
.

clint123

we like the open fire tho over a stove to be honest. so is it possible to have a back boiler put back in to heat the rads/water. would it be much work involved etc ?

gctest50

You can get "inset" stoves like this :



( you'd get the nice happy glow from the fire and heat your rads)

bbam

You could go for a back boiler in the open fire.
Open fire is about 10% efficient.
Back boiler about 40% efficient.
And a stove with boiler about 90%.

We had a Grant triple pass back boiler in the past and it was savage to heat the rads and hot water.

You may still have the pipes if they were there in the past. Might be best to speak with whoever did the last work. They me know where pipes were terminated and if they could be reused.

Robbie.G

clint123 wrote: »

Folk's I currently have an open fire, just heats the living room ( not the rads ) and I have gas , to heat the rads.

Is there anyway that I could get some work done to have the coal fire to heat the rads, and also keep the gas to heat them ?

years ago, we did have the coal fire heating the rads & water, but my parents got work done and got the gas in to heat the rads water instead.

if its possible, who would I need to contact, and do you think it would be expensive ?

tks for your advise

First it is possible but a stove or backboiler needs to be fitted in place of the open fire.It largely depends on your existing heating system is it a open vented or sealed
system.If its a open system it's a lot easier.To get the job done budget around 3000 but that would be subject to survey.Give 1or2 plumbers a ring get them to call and give a quote

clint123

clint123 wrote: »

Is there anyway that I could get some work done to have the coal fire to heat the rads, and also keep the gas to heat them ?

Gas appliances must always be fitted asper manufactures instructions or gas regs, a secondary heat sorce with no thermostatic control is not supported by either and can lead to problems.

Back boilers are very fashionable at the moment and are the Bain of my life as the installs I come across tend to have a negative impact on the gas installation although some are done to a high standard and do work.

Lots of installers tell me how they have been fitting stoves to gas installations for years with no drama and I'm sure their right but if there is ever a problem then a installation is judged under gas regs and manufactures instructions and not a installers experiences.


Some info: http://www.solidfuel.co.uk/pdfs/link_up.pdf

clint123

I have a little door at the side of my fire, I just unscrewed it and there is 2 pipes ( nothing connected to them ) but they are running up the inside of the wall and looks like going to my main boiler upstairs in the bathroom. not sure if this helps ?

Maybe this is from where the old back boiler downstairs was connected to ?

@ Gary its not dangerous at all is it ? to have both coal fire heating the rads, and from time to time, turning on my gas to heat them ? by the sounds of it, you actually do this type of work do you ?

clint123

clint123 wrote: »

@ Gary its not dangerous at all is it ?

I'm far to lazy to do installs, I spend my time fixing faults left by others and at the moment I seem to spend more of my time on my knees hoping for Devine intervention while trying to get heat circulating around a gas installation which is struggling due to a badly fitted stove.

A good plumber can do what your looking for and it would be a very safe installation.

If you ask a boiler manufacture if you can add a back boiler to their boilers heating circuit they will say no, it's not that it wouldn't work it's more to do with the boilers not been tested in this manor and at times it can cause problems when a boiler is trying to dissipate heat and there is a high return temperature overheating the boiler, also it can lead to warranty problems.

I'm a gas engineer and I have always worked to gas regulations, every installation I have worked on or appliances fitted meets gas regs, stoves are a gray area and adding a stove to a gas installation is not really supported by the regs it can judged by, which is only a problem if it's a problem.

aujopimur

I'm retired from the trade, but I like to keep up to date on current regs etc.
The current regs for solid fuel/gas dual systems require that design and installation specs must be submitted to, and approved by Bord Gais.

bbam

Great advice from the lads there..
It will be a good job, but only if you get it done by a good reputable plumber..

amlostforwords

hi sorry for jumping in here but my (very limited ) understanding is that a back boiler on a closed system can not/should not be done because it is unsafe, and that gas operates on a pressurised system therefore the loop has to be closed.?????

amlostforwords

amlostforwords wrote: »

hi sorry for jumping in here but my (very limited ) understanding is that a back boiler on a closed system can not/should not be done because it is unsafe, and that gas operates on a pressurised system therefore the loop has to be closed.?????

Gas boilers are not required to be sealed, it's the choice of the installer if he buys a boiler for a open or closed system.

Dtp1979

gary71 wrote: »

Gas boilers are not required to be sealed, it's the choice of the installer if he buys a boiler for a open or closed system.

Or he buys an Ariston and can set it up either way

amlostforwords

Every day is a school day

ronan45

Is there much to connecting a stove to your rad system? do you need to connect the stove to the immersion or just connect it to the nearest radiator (ie just breaking it into the Loop)

Dtp1979

ronan45 wrote: »

Is there much to connecting a stove to your rad system? do you need to connect the stove to the immersion or just connect it to the nearest radiator (ie just breaking it into the Loop)

The stove Pipes MUST rise go to your cylinder first and then from there to your rads

ronan45

Ill stick with the Non boiler stove so. Sounds like a lot of retro-fitting! Cheers Buddy :cool: