F-gas certificate

[SteamyTea]

41 minutes ago, Beelbeebub said:

Other than a tragic case a decade or more ago involving a plastic cold water tank, a stuck immersion heater and a baby I'm not aware of any fatalities or even serious injuries from bodged wet systems. 

Was that the case in Taunton,

Or the Penzance case.

[Beelbeebub]

2 hours ago, SteamyTea said:

Was that the case in Taunton,

Or the Penzance case.

Both. 

 

Which is why immersion heaters now have a 2nd hardwired, manually resetting thermostat and the guidance for supporting the plastic water tank has changed. They used to be placed on joists, now they must be fully supported by ply or chipboard panels. 

 

To be fair, neither case was due to bodging (AFAIK) it was an unforseen consequence of moving from the old galv tanks to plastic tanks. 

[RobLe]

I think it’s not so much the home-owner issue.  R290 has been resisted due to more complex manufacturing and maintainance, and probably lobbying by the fgas industry to keep the means to their privilege.  There are rules for R290 charge levels indoors so that in the worst case scenario it still can’t explode.  Yet ‘natural’ gas is still actually piped into almost every home in the UK !

[Beelbeebub]

9 minutes ago, RobLe said:

I think it’s not so much the home-owner issue.  R290 has been resisted due to more complex manufacturing and maintainance, and probably lobbying by the fgas industry to keep the means to their privilege.  There are rules for R290 charge levels indoors so that in the worst case scenario it still can’t explode.  Yet ‘natural’ gas is still actually piped into almost every home in the UK !

I know, and you can buy 150g propane cylinders for camping and stick them in your cupboard or under your bed.

 

I did read that propane is heavier than air unlike methane so tends to accumulate in low spots rather than dissapate like natural gas. 

 

I know propane on boats is treated very carefully as even a small leak can accumulate dangerously in the bilge and below decks. 

 

But you are right, the risk shouldn't be unmanageable , especially with leak detection sensors. We could have propane sensors like we do for carbon monoxide. 

 

 

[sharpener]

On 17/10/2023 at 08:04, Beelbeebub said:

I know propane on boats is treated very carefully as even a small leak can accumulate dangerously in the bilge and below decks. 

 

Mostly butane on small boats, but propane on canal boats etc. The principles are the same, if inside the hull the gas bottles have to be in a gas-tight locker which has a separate drain to the outside. Leak detectors are readily available in chandleries.