Afternoon All,
I have recently moved to a property with an old Grant oil boiler in an external boiler house, relatively long in the tooth (20 years +) but recently serviced with no issues flagged and seems to work perfectly well. The main downside is that whenever it is operating the entire garden smells of fumes and you have to close all windows on that side of the house to stop it coming inside which isn't ideal! Is this something that afflicts all oil boilers? Would upgrading to a new, combi oil boiler for example make this less likely? Or does LPG burn with less of a smell? We had a mains gas boiler in our previous property and I was never aware of operating at all but can't miss the current one! Any advice most appreciated.
Are you a tradesperson and able to answer this question?
Hi! Could be quite simple, perhaps your burner has just not been set up correctly. If the fumes coming out of the flue are completely clear (apart from condensation) then that's a good sign it's burning correctly. If not it needs attention.
BUT! If you are smelling unburnt oil fumes please turn the oil valve off coming out of the storage tank immediately
But no, they aren't meant to smell.
Hi,
Most oil fired boilers work on roughly the same principle. You have oil in the tank which feeds into the boiler burner, it’s pressurised and fed through a very small nozzle about the size of a needle. The other side of the nozzle there is an ignition system which causes a mini conflagration which fires the oil and causes heat. The heat then makes its way out of the boiler via a route which passes a number of obstacles called baffles which regulate its direction. During its passage the heat or most of it is absorbed and transferred via a heat exchanger to water circulating around the boiler and the central heating/ hot water system.
I think your problem is either going to be the little nozzle which becomes blocked, thereby not burning the oil properly and causing smoke and smell.Or the baffles are covered in horrible black soot and need a thorough clean. Or both.
Get an OFTEC man over and tell him to vacuum the flue and change the nozzle. That should sort your problem. An oil boiler shouldn’t smell - I have a Grant and when it’s running I can pass the flue and breathe in the products of combustion and it has no smell or taste.
Guy
Answered2 November 2019
3
Anonymous user
Lpg is def a better option smell wise , oil boilers that are new do not smell as much, you can also add plume kits to extract the fumes at higher points,, in my opinion you can alleviate the smell yes
Answered26 October 2019
0
Anonymous user
are you sure its fumes your smelling and not kerosene from a leak
it has a very stong smell which lingers and is hard to disperse
