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5.1 General Requirements
When in condensing mode the Grant SPIRA condensing
wood pellet boilers produce condensate from the water
vapour in the flue gases and the fuel. This condensate is
slightly acidic with a ph value of around 3 (similar to
vinegar); provision must be made for the safe and effective
disposal of this condensate.
Condensate should be disposed of using an internal 4”
gulley connected to a foul water system or alternatively or
into a purpose built high capacity soakway.
All condensate disposal pipes must be fitted with a trap –
whether they are connected internally or externally to a
domestic waste system/soil stack or run externally to a
gully, hopper or soakway.
5.2 Connections
Connections into a rainwater hopper, external drain or
gulley should be terminated inside the hopper/drain/gulley
below the grid level but above the water level.
Condensate disposal pipes should not be connected directly
into rainwater downpipes or to waste/soil systems
connected to septic tanks.
Condensate should not be discharged into „grey water‟
systems that re-use water used in the home (not including
water from toilets).
It should be noted that connection of a condensate pipe to
the drain may be subject to local building control.
5.3 Pipework
All condensate pipework must be adequately protected
against freezing, however if the condensate pipe is
frozen, water will build up and discharge through the
overflow on the trap.
Condensate disposal pipework must be plastic.
Copper or steel pipe is not suitable and must not be used.
Condensate disposal pipes should have a minimum
„nominal‟ diameter of 38mm (1 1/2”) plastic pipe.
Condensate disposal pipes must be fitted with a fall (away
from the boiler) of at least 2.5° (~45mm fall per metre run).
Where it is not possible for the pipe to fall towards the
point of discharge –either internally into a waste system
or externally to a gulley (e.g. for boilers installed in a
basement), it will be necessary to use a condensate
pump. When fitting a condensate pump, a condensate
holding tank of at least 40 litres is required. This is to
ensure that when the boiler cleaning cycle has operated
the holding tank can collect the total volume of the
water used in the wash down and the condensate pump
can then discharge the waste effectively. A boiler
interlock should be fitted to shut off the boiler in the
event of a malfunction of the condensate pump.
When using a condensate pump and condensate
holding tank, the burner settings for „T18‟ / „TIME
CLEAN PERIOD‟ (time boiler cleaning in operation)
must not be set greater than 600 (60 seconds) and the
„T17‟ / „TIME CLEAN BOILER‟ (time between boiler
cleaning operations) must not be set less than 240
minutes, as modifying these times could result in larger
and more frequent wash down of the boiler which could
exceed the capabilities of the tank and condensate
pump.
Condensate disposal pipes should be kept as short as
possible and the number of bends kept to a minimum.
Pipes should be adequately fixed to prevent sagging, i.e. at
no more than 0.5 metre intervals.
5.4 External Pipework
Ideally, external pipework, or pipework in unheated areas,
should be avoided. If unavoidable, external pipework should
be kept as short as possible (less than 3 metres) and 38mm
waste pipe used to minimise the risk of ice blocking the pipe
in freezing conditions.
The number of bends, fitting and joints on external pipes
should be kept to a minimum to reduce the risk of trapping
condensate.