Replace Oil with Gas -grade 2 listed

[Laup06]

A few questions ....if you can advise or offer opinions i would appreciate it

A house im viewing has oil tank and oil fed boiler, is it possible to disconnect oil tank / boiler and replace with gas combi using same outgoing pipes obviously new tails etc ?

Do companies take oil tanks away free if theycan be reconditioned?

And if gas supply is needed to property how does gas pipework enter building of a listed building if walls are thick stone etc...

 

[Cubist]

Hi There,

I suggest you talk to your Conservation Officer first to get an idea of any constraints he/she would want you to work within and what permission hoops you may need to jump through. I would then get some surveys from local outfits with good reputations to advise on what work is required and the likely costs.

Sorry, best I can do but others may be able to add more detailed thoughts.

Cheers and Good Luck,
Cubist

 

[Laup06]

Hi, agree and thanks for taking the time to reply, i appreciate the questions are hyperthetical, just wondered if any one had done this

 

[Pennyviz]

And be aware the utility companies charge a fortune to lay pipes.

Penny

 

[Flyfisher]

Hi, agree and thanks for taking the time to reply, i appreciate the questions are hyperthetical, just wondered if any one had done this

We’re G2* and had a brand new gas connection installed about 10 years ago. It was a fairly cheap, fast and painless exercise although I did all the necessary trench digging on my own property because, as Pennyviz has mentioned, I was told the gas company would charge a lot for such work because they simply subcontract it and add their own margin. It was also one of my justifications for buying a mini-digger!

Regardless of being listed I did not want one of those ugly plastic boxes planted on the side of the house so I discussed having the new gas meter installed inside an outbuilding, which apparently was not a problem. My fallback position would have been for the meter box to be fixed to the outbuilding, thinking that they might be compulsory, but in the event this was not necessary. The gas company was very helpful in this respect. Having sorted this out I didn’t feel it was necessary to apply for LBC at all.

Given that I was digging the pipe trench on my land, the installation itself was a fixed price of £295. It would have been £50 less but the distance from where the pipe entered my land to the meter position was more than ‘normal’ (up to 25m I seem to recall), but this was the only minor complication. The work itself took two days.

The gas pipe to the new gas boiler is a 15mm copper pipe from the underground plastic pipe from the meter, which runs up the wall about 5 feet before going through the wall and direct to the boiler. So basically, the only impact on the house was a small hole drilled through the wall. If the new gas supply was piped directly to the house with the meter installed inside then there would be similar, minimal, impact to the house, though the supply pipe would be slightly larger. In our case the wall was about 12 inches thick and mainly chalk so quite easy to drill, but even a stone wall should not be a problem for the right tool.

Obviously the meter positioning and supply pipe routing will be individual for each installation but my experience is that the gas company was very helpful in working to my requirements.

As for replacing an oil boiler with a gas boiler and using the existing pipe work, my guess is that this wouldn’t be possible because of issues such as pipe sizes, residual oil in the pipe work and the gas fitter being required to sign-off on a ‘non-standard’ installation. But it is just a guess so I’d want to talk with the gas boiler installer first to confirm what is and what is not possible. Personally, I’d prefer brand new gas pipe work and preferably not running through the house, though I appreciate such an arrangement might not always be practical or possible.

As for disposing of the old oil tank, the new boiler installers might take it away if you ask. It will certainly have some scrap value. The last time I took scrap metal to a scrap yard I got £40 for an old non-repairable ride on mower, £85 for 14 old car batteries and £75 for an old copper hot water tank. Better than a trip to the local council dump and being charged to dispose of it all!

 

[88v8]

is it possible to disconnect oil tank / boiler and replace with gas combi using same outgoing pipes obviously new tails etc ?

You mean the water piping? Yes, if it was properly sized and providing the system has had the correct water treatment continually in it so it's not furred up.
Neither of these provisos can be taken for granted especially the latter.

Ivor

 

[Flyfisher]

You mean the water piping? . . . . .

Ha! Because of the discussion about changing from oil to gas, I was thinking only of the fuel-side pipework to the new boiler in my previous post. Doh!

I agree with Ivor about the water side of things and would only add that even if furred up it may still be possible to clean the existing pipework and radiators by flushing it with the appropriate chemicals. A good heating engineer should be able to advise on the specific system.

 

[Laup06]

Hey, many thanks for the replies, agree with all of them, the property has 30 inch stone walls and wasnt sure about gas pipework access, however this would have to be discussed with conservation officer i would imagine.

 

[88v8]

30 inch :shock:
Is this a former jailhouse?

Yes, the gas meter box would have to be positioned somewhere agreeable to the CO. The white plastic cover can be painted a colour of choice - rub down with medium sandpaper, one coat oil gloss, no primer, rub down with mild sandpaper, one coat oil gloss. I imagine that by coating it with PVA and then throwing brick dust at it, one could even make it sort of blend in with a brick wall.

Given a suitably beefy drill, the hole can be drilled by adding masonry bit extensions. With a long masonry bit plus one extension, I can go up to 18", but more extensions can be added as required.

Did once do a chemical flush of a system. Had to be run flat out for 24 hours. It was summer. We roasted. Some bottles of home-made wine stored in a high cupboard blew their corks out, that was fun.
The real tedium was the water washes afterwards to flush out the chemical, filling up and venting all the rads, then opening the vents as the water ran out, then repeat I forget how many times. Urrgh. Fortunately there was an external stop cock in the piping for attaching a hose to take the water away.

The chemical flush involves opening all the lockshields - be very sure to count the turns on each lockshield and write it down and don't lose the note, otherwise you'll have to rebalance the system from scratch, which is another piece of tedium best avoided.

Ivor

 

[Flyfisher]

Hey, many thanks for the replies, agree with all of them, the property has 30 inch stone walls and wasnt sure about gas pipework access, however this would have to be discussed with conservation officer i would imagine.

How does the existing oil supply pipe work enter the house? Would it be possible to use the same route? If so (even if it means re-drilling to enlarge it). I don’t think it would be necessary to involve the CO.

30 inch stone walls? :shock:

 

[Laup06]

Thanks for replies
Yes 30 inch ...approx according to listing...not sure myself though....but they are thick