Safety conditions for solid fuel boiler plants

What safety conditions should a solid fuel boiler room meet?

There is a lot of talk these days about what to burn, which heating fuel is the cheapest, which is the least harmful to nature. Recently, we also seriously considered how to get fuel for the winter at. Because of this, safety issues are relegated to the background. And, despite the sudden difficulties and worries on the subject, they shouldn’t.

Technical requirements of solid fuel boiler plants

Global energy policy is moving away from fuel coal, but it is still massively used for household heating in Poland. So is biomass, briquette, or pellets.

Therefore, today – despite the unstable situation in the coal market – we answer the question of how to prepare the boiler room, in which we plan to install a solid fuel boiler. Because, after all, it is necessary to heat the house and it must be done safely.

If we use solid fuel to heat the house, we should carefully take care of the appropriate technical conditions of our boiler room. The boiler room for solid fuels must meet certain requirements that allow it to be used. It is not worth looking for savings or taking shortcuts here, because our safety and the safety of our loved ones are at stake.

Solid fuel boilers need an optimally ventilated space with an appropriate cubic capacity. We explain how to make sure that a boiler room with a solid fuel boiler performs its function well and does not pose a danger to household members.

Solid fuel boiler room – what should it look like?

The boiler room for solid fuels must meet the safety requirements of any other room in which we install a heat source. The very fact of having a boiler with a fuel feeder requires a space that must be conveniently accessible. This space must have reliable supply and exhaust ventilation, which is actually the most important feature of a safe boiler room. This room must not be smoky or stuffy. Fuel must also be stored somewhere. A very practical solution is to design the boiler room so that it has a direct exit to the outside.

In a standard single-family house, boilers of up to 25 kW are used, for which there are established technical requirements:

• a minimum height of 2.2 meters. In existing buildings, 1.9 m high rooms are allowed, but they must make up for it with decent ventilation;
• the boiler room must be located in the basement or at room level;
• a supply system is required, i.e. an unsealed opening of at least 200 cm2, one meter above the floor, which will constantly supply outside air;
• an exhaust system is required, i.e. an underfloor outlet duct, necessarily leading above the roof of the building. The duct, with a minimum size of 14×14 cm, must be made of non-flammable materials;
• the chimney, which allows the discharge of combustion products from the boiler, should be wide enough to draw the smoke efficiently. It must be suitable for the fuel used and should absolutely be subject to regular inspection;
• the boiler should be connected to the chimney with a sealed flue, which allows safe removal of flue gases and facilitates cleaning;
• the boiler should stand on a stable elevation – not less than 5 cm from the ground – at such a distance from the walls that there is free access to it (about a meter);
• the boiler room should have lighting and electrical sockets for heating automation.

Why is it important? – problems and risks

While some of the guidelines are primarily for the better usability of a home solid-fuel boiler room, its ventilation is paramount. And this is for two reasons. First, with proper ventilation, the equipment works efficiently and effectively. Second, it is a matter of our safety.

A solid fuel boiler needs a lot of air from the outside – rich in the oxygen necessary for burning fuel. So if we don’t supply the boiler room with enough air, “incomplete combustion” can occur. Then the boiler will operate inefficiently, and – worse – deadly carbon monoxide will begin to accumulate in the boiler room. Pollutants and smoke will also not be vented to the outside, which can cause respiratory poisoning and, an explosion/fire.

Finally, among the less dramatic, but quite troublesome consequences of poor boiler room ventilation, it is possible for the mechanics of boiler operation to fail. Without sufficient oxygen-rich air, the boiler may fail to reach the proper temperature at the furnace. This risks damaging it. Without proper ventilation, a solid-fuel boiler room is not viable.

Solid fuel boiler room vs. gas and oil heating – comparison of requirements

A solid fuel boiler room must meet far more safety requirements than rooms where other boilers are installed.

In the case of a natural gas boiler, a separate room is not required, and there is no need to secure a place for storing fuel. We can install the boiler in the kitchen or bathroom. The height of the room with a gas boiler should be similar to the boiler room for solid fuel, but its volume depends on the type of boiler. Larger for a boiler with an open combustion chamber (draws air from the room) – 8 m3, smaller for a boiler with a closed combustion chamber (draws air from outside) – 6.5 m3.

Of course, again ventilation plays a key role. It should not be abandoned even with a boiler with a closed combustion chamber, because, whatever we do to guard against it, there is always the risk of gas leakage. Remember that the gas installation must be regularly checked for leaks.

With an open combustion chamber boiler, the cross-section of the supply duct must be no less than 200 cm2, while the exhaust opening must be 14 × 14 cm. It must be placed high, near the ceiling, because natural gas is lighter than air. Thus, in the event of a leak, it will store under the ceiling, and not at the height of the human respiratory system. If we have such a boiler, we can’t use mechanical ventilation! With a liquefied petroleum gas boiler, the opposite is true – vents are made above the floor to safely vent any leakage. With a boiler with a closed combustion chamber, the type of ventilation does not matter much.

With an oil boiler, the conditions are similar, but here it is rarely used to install in utility rooms such as the kitchen and bathroom. The reason is not for safety reasons but for health and comfort. This heating fuel smells bad, so it should have a separate