How much gas does a pilot light use?

[MtB]

6 minutes ago, stegra said:

I guess it's subjective as to whether someone taking advantage of a government scheme that paid around £2k for a straight boiler swap was unscrupulous.

 

Hmmm that scheme needed you to sling one helluvalot of boxes onto walls for it to be worthwhile. ISTR installers had to pay the govt £20k(ish) a year to be on that scheme so you really had to go some to make any actual profit.

[stegra]

33 minutes ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

 

Hmmm that scheme needed you to sling one helluvalot of boxes onto walls for it to be worthwhile. ISTR installers had to pay the govt £20k(ish) a year to be on that scheme so you really had to go some to make any actual profit.

Ok. A longer explanation required. Dave is actually one of the most conscience tradesman I've ever met. Although he sometimes subcontracted to firms doing these installations, he hated the pressure to get jobs done in one day. Putting boilers in wardrobes and surface-mounting vent and condensing pipes on skirting boards really troubled him. At that time however, heating engineers were not easy to find, largely down to these incentives. He was therefore able to charge a similar rate for a non-government funded job and do it to a standard he was proud of.

I was pretty annoyed at this time because my parents, who lived the other side of the country, were given the option of insulation or a new boiler. They chose to pay for the boiler but used the company that would have done the installation on the government scheme. I'd already run the pipe work to the new boiler's location but the company's installer put it in the airing cupboard and surface mounted the pipes. All four bedrooms were affected by the noise of the boiler cycling through the night.

[Tom766]

Hi AdamG. I have exactly the same boiler, needs plumbing for gas. Do you know if the gas fittings are 3/8" ?

 

Tom

[AdamG]

19 hours ago, Tom766 said:

Hi AdamG. I have exactly the same boiler, needs plumbing for gas. Do you know if the gas fittings are 3/8" ?

 

Tom

Hi Tom,

Yes, I would say 3/8" or 15mm. I've attached a photo of the water pipe, although it doesn't say the size - looks like 15mm to me though...

[Tom766]

Ah right. thanks for the pic. My gas pipe is copper and looks like 10mm which I think is close to 3/8", taking a micrometer out Saturday to check.  Have to be sure of the sizes as each fitting (couplings and elbow) cost around £12 each. Extortionate price I reckon.

[MtB]

Try bes.co.uk for more sensible prices.

[colin647100]

just a quick note--re the gas bottle and regulator fitting;:  whenever i change my gas bottle (empty for full)  i always use a couple of turns of  ptfe tape  but you must use the gas fittings type  NOT  the white  'water fittings type'  and i have never found i have had a problem with any leaks with any of the replacement bottles.   If your still a little unsure if you have any leaks then you can always use a weak dilution of washing up liquid around the joint to see if you get any bubbles.      This has probably been posted many times before  i thought worth a mention  as you seem to be using a lot of gas and at least you know you will not be wasting any by having a leak.

[MtB]

26 minutes ago, colin647100 said:

just a quick note--re the gas bottle and regulator fitting;:  whenever i change my gas bottle (empty for full)  i always use a couple of turns of  ptfe tape  but you must use the gas fittings type  NOT  the white  'water fittings type'  and i have never found i have had a problem with any leaks with any of the replacement bottles.   If your still a little unsure if you have any leaks then you can always use a weak dilution of washing up liquid around the joint to see if you get any bubbles.      This has probably been posted many times before  i thought worth a mention  as you seem to be using a lot of gas and at least you know you will not be wasting any by having a leak.

 

Why?

The brass-to-brass Pol fittings are perfectly gas-tight and you can test them in just the same way if you are unsure. In addition if you are putting your 'couple of turns" on the thread, this is futile and pointless the the seal occurs on the brass cone.

Washing up liquid is not an approved method these days as something in it corrodes the brass. Buy proper "leak detection fluid" from a plumbers merchant or ebay, or from the same place you are buying your gas PTFE.