Boiler room in a private house: requirements, standards, for gas, solid fuel, liquid fuel boilers

To install heating equipment, a separate room is often required, which is called a furnace, boiler room, but more often a boiler room. Since any fuel is potentially dangerous, rather stringent requirements are imposed on the premises in which boilers are installed, designed to ensure the maximum degree of safety. Kokoi should be a boiler room in a private house, the requirements for the premises and the norms are all in the article. 

Regulations

Immediately it is worth deciding on the regulatory framework. Until mid-2003, the norms of SNiP No. 2.04.08-87 were in force. On July 1, 2003, SNiP 42-01-2002 came into force. All requirements and norms for the installation of boiler rooms in a private house must be taken from this document.

It is desirable to know the standards, even though the design of a boiler room in a private house should be drawn up by a specialized organization. So you can decide on the possibility and impossibility of installing one or another heating equipment, as well as what work you have to do in order to adjust the existing or under construction premises to the standards. With every difficulty or controversial issue, it is worth going to the design department of the gas supply organization and talking to them. There are a lot of nuances associated with the features of each house, which can only be solved by being tied to the plan of the house or its project.

Rules and regulations for installing a gas boiler in a private house

The choice of installation location for a gas boiler depends on its power:

• with a power of up to 60 kW, installation is possible in the kitchen (subject to certain requirements);
• from 60 kW to 150 kW – in a separate room, regardless of the floor (subject to the use of natural gas, they can be installed in the basement and basement floor as well);
• from 150 kW to 350 kW – in a separate room on the first or basement floor, in an annex and a separate building.

This does not mean that a 20 kW boiler cannot be installed in a separate boiler room. You can, if you want to collect all life support systems in one place. That’s just the volume of premises there are requirements. The minimum size of a boiler room in a private house should be:

• for boilers with a power of up to 30 kW, the minimum volume of the room (not the area, but the volume) must be 7,5 m³;
• from 30 to 60 kW — 13,5 m³;
• from 60 to 200 kW — 15 m³.

Only in the case of installing a gas boiler in the kitchen, other standards apply – the minimum volume is 15 cubic meters, and the ceiling height is at least 2,5 m.

For each variant of the premises for a gas boiler room, certain requirements are imposed. Some of them are common:

• Any boiler room in a private house should have natural light. Moreover, the area of ​​​​windows is normalized – by 1 m³ volume should account for at least 0,03 m² glazing. Please note that these are the dimensions of the glass. In addition, the window should be hinged, open outward.
• The window should have a window or transom – for emergency ventilation in case of gas leakage.
• Mandatory ventilation and removal of combustion products through the chimney. The exhaust of a low-power boiler (up to 30 kW) can be led through the wall.
• Water must be connected to the boiler room of any type (feed the system if necessary) and sewerage (heat carrier drain).

Another general requirement that appeared in the latest version of SNiP. When installing gas equipment for hot water supply and heating with a capacity of more than 60 kW, a gas control system is required, which, in the event of a trigger, will automatically stop the gas supply.

Further requirements differ depending on the type of boiler room.

Boiler room in a private house in a separate room (built-in or attached)

Separate boiler rooms for the installation of gas boilers with a power of up to 200 kW must be separated from the rest of the rooms by a non-combustible wall with a fire resistance of at least 0,75 hours. These requirements are met by brick, cinder block, concrete (light and heavy). The requirements for separate furnaces in a built-in or attached room are as follows:

• The minimum volume is 15 cubic meters.
• Ceiling height :
  • with power from 30 kW – 2,5 m;
  • up to 30 kW – from 2,2 m.
• There must be a window with a transom or a window, the glass area is not less than 0,03 square meters per cubic meter of volume.
• Ventilation should provide at least three air exchanges in one hour.

If the boiler room is organized in the basement or basement, the minimum size of the boiler room will be larger: 15 m is added to the mandatory 0,2 cubes² for every kilowatt of power used for heating. A requirement is also added to walls and ceilings adjacent to other rooms: they must be vapor-gas-tight. And one more feature: the furnace in the basement or basement, when installing equipment with a capacity of 150 kW to 350 kW, must have a separate exit to the street. Access to the corridor leading to the street is allowed.

In general, it is advisable to choose the size of a boiler room in a private house based on the convenience of maintenance, which, as a rule, far exceeds the standards.

Special requirements for attached boiler rooms

There are not very many of them. Three new requirements are added to the points above:

1. The extension should be located on a solid section of the wall, the distance to the nearest windows or doors should be at least 1 meter.
2. It must be made of non-combustible material with a fire resistance of at least 0,75 hours (concrete, brick, cinder block).
3. The walls of the extension must not be connected to the walls of the main building. This means that the foundation should be made separate, incoherent and not three walls should be built, but all four.
   

What to keep in mind. If you are going to arrange a boiler room in a private house, and there is no room of a suitable volume or the ceiling height is slightly lower than the requirements, you may be met and demanded in return to increase the glazing area. If you are planning to build a house, then you must meet all the requirements, otherwise the project will never be approved for you. They are also tough on the construction of attached boiler houses: everything must comply with the standards and nothing else.

Installing a gas boiler boiler in the kitchen: room requirements

As already mentioned, gas boilers with a capacity of up to 30 kW can be installed in the kitchen. The type of combustion chamber is any (open, closed), the removal of combustion products is possible in the ventilation ducts (in apartments), the chimney, through the wall to the street. You can install a wall-mounted or floor-mounted boiler.

Other requirements for kitchens for installing a gas boiler:

• ceiling height not less than 2,5 m;
• the volume of the room is not less than 15 cubic meters;
• the ventilation system should provide three air changes per hour;
• fresh air supply must be provided in a volume sufficient for gas combustion;

Wall-mounted boilers must be hung on non-combustible walls. At the same time, the boiler must be positioned so that the distance to the side walls is at least 10 cm. If there are no non-combustible walls, installation on slow-burning or combustible materials is allowed, but on one condition: they must be covered with plaster or a refractory screen. The minimum thickness of the plaster layer is 5 cm.

The screen for the gas boiler is made of sheet steel. The metal is fixed over a sheet of heat-insulating material with a thickness of at least 3 mm (asbestos or mineral wool cardboard). The dimensions of the screen must be larger than the dimensions of the boiler in the casing by 70 cm on top and 10 cm on the other sides.

 Requirements for stand-alone furnaces

Such boiler houses are made with high boiler power – above 200 kW. In addition to those already mentioned earlier, there are several specific requirements. Here they are:

• The material of the walls, finishes and roofs must be fireproof.
• The volume of a separate boiler room is at least 15 cubic meters, plus 0,2 sq.m for each kW of power used for heating.
• Ceiling height at least 2,5 m.
• Glazing area is calculated on the basis of 0,03 sq.m for each volume cube.
• The window must have a window or transom.
• A separate foundation is required for the boiler, its height should not exceed 15 cm above the floor level.
• With a relatively small weight (up to 200 kg), installation on a concrete floor is allowed.
• There must be a gas emergency shutdown system (mounted on the pipe).
• Doors are not reinforced, weakly fixed.
• Ventilation in the room should provide three air exchanges in 1 hour.

When accepting and installing gas equipment in a separate boiler room, acceptance will be strict: all standards must be observed. Only then will you be given permission.

What should be the doors in the boiler room

If this is a separate room in a residential building, then the doors leading from the furnace must be fireproof. This means that they must contain the fire for 15 minutes. Under these requirements, only those made of metal are suitable. Factory or homemade – it is not so important, as long as they fit in terms of parameters.

If there is an exit to the street in the furnace room, there should be unfortified doors. Moreover, in the SNiP it is written “weakly fortified.” This is necessary so that during the explosion the box is simply squeezed out by the blast wave. Then the energy of the explosion will be directed to the street, and not to the walls of the house. The second plus of easily “carried out” doors is that gas can freely escape.

Often, an additional requirement is put in the project – the presence of a hole in the lower part of the door taken by the grate. It is necessary to ensure the flow of air into the room.

Ventilation for a boiler room in a private house

As already mentioned, the calculation of ventilation performance is calculated from the volume of the room. It must be multiplied by 3, add about 30% to the reserve. We get the volume that needs to be “pumped” per hour.

For example, a room 3 * 3 m with a ceiling height of 2,5 m. Volume 3 * 3 * 2,5 u22,5d XNUMX m³. Requires three exchanges: 22,5 m³ * 3 = 67,5 m³. We add a margin of 30%, we get 87,75 m³.

To ensure natural ventilation in the lower part of the wall, there should be an inlet, covered with a grate. The exhaust pipe must exit through the roof, it is possible to exit through the wall in its upper part. It is necessary to bring the ventilation pipe to the same height as the chimney.

Requirements for boiler rooms for the installation of solid and liquid fuel boilers

The requirements for volume, dimensions and materials for the boiler room are the same. However, there are several specific ones that are associated with the need to organize a chimney and a place to store fuel. Here are the basic requirements (mostly they are written in the boiler passport):

• The cross section of the chimney must not be less than the diameter of the boiler outlet pipe. Reducing the diameter along the entire length of the chimney is not allowed.
• It is necessary to design a chimney with the least number of elbows. Ideally, it should be straight.
• At the bottom of the wall there should be an inlet (window) for air to enter. Its area is calculated from the power of the boiler: 8 sq. see per kilowatt.
• The outlet of the chimney is possible through the roof or into the wall.
• Below the chimney inlet there should be a cleaning hole – for revision and maintenance.
• The chimney material and its connections must be gas-tight.
• The boiler is installed on a non-combustible base. If the floors in the boiler room are wooden, a sheet of asbestos or mineral wool cardboard is laid, on top – a sheet of metal. The second option is a brick podium, plastered or tiled.
• When using a coal-fired boiler, the wiring is only hidden; laying in metal pipes is possible. Sockets must be powered by a reduced voltage of 42 V, and switches must be sealed. All these requirements are a consequence of the explosiveness of coal dust.

Please note that the passage of the chimney through the roof or wall must be made through a special non-combustible passage unit.

It is worth saying a few words about liquid fuel boilers. Their work is usually accompanied by a fairly high level of noise, as well as a characteristic smell. So the idea of ​​​​putting such a unit in the kitchen is not the best idea. When allocating a separate room, you should make sure that the walls give good sound insulation, and the smell does not penetrate through the doors. Since the internal doors will still be metal, take care of the presence of a high-quality seal around the perimeter. Perhaps the noise and smells will not interfere. The same recommendations apply to attached boiler houses, although they are less critical.