GB2145204A - Installation of wall-mounted gas appliances - Google Patents

Abstract

A gas-fired appliance, for example a boiler, is mounted on the wall of a building using a box which is located in the wall and is preferably suitable for use with a range of appliances. The front face (10) of the box has a flue aperture (15) and attachment points (16) at which the appliance is secured. The arrangement is particularly suitable for use in timber frame walls, the sides (12) of the box being surrounded by insulation (17) and then secured to the timber frame at attachment points (18). A sheet of cladding (Fig. 5) is applied to the front face of the box before the gas-fired appliance is mounted. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Installation of wall-mounted gas appliances The present invention relates to the installation of wall-mounted gas appliances, for example gas-fired boilers, and is especially relevant to the mounting of a gas appliance on the wall of a timber-frame building.

When a builder is preparing forthe installation of a gas appliance on the wall of a timber frame building, he removes noggings and insulation pieces from the wall and it is customary for him to use these to build-up, in the wall, a suitable installation frame on which the appliance can be mounted. The size ofthe installation frame must be adapted to the particular appliance that is to be mounted on it and the builder must also ensure by reference to the installation instructions of the particular appliance that appropriately-positioned fixing points are provided.He must also ensure that the wooden installation frame is adequately-insulated and, although internal insulation can be provided by cladding with the pieces removed from the wall, this involves the use of a large sheet of insulation to cover the front of the installation frame, against which the appliance is subsequently mounted. This sheet of insulation must also be marked-out and provided with the appropriately positioned fixing points for the appliance and an aperture for the balanced flue terminal.

This whole procedure is labour-intensive and, accordingly, expensive. It also involves the use of a comparatively large amount of insulation and this is also expensive, particularly the large sheet required to clad the front of the installation frame. Moreover, this large sheet of insulation can present problems when the wall is being decorated since it provides a surface which, for decorating purposes, is often not compatible with the rest of the wall.

It is an object of the present invention to enable the building costs associated with the provision of an installation frame to be reduced.

The present invention provides an installation assembly for a wall-mounted gas appliance, including a box-shaped member for location in the wall, one end face of the box having attachment points for mounting the gas appliance and a flue aperture for the appliance.

The box-shaped member may be made of metal.

The sides of the box may have attachment points for securing the box-shaped member to the wall.

The edges of the said end face of the box may be folded around the sides, to strengthen the box.

The box may be open at the other end, in which case the edges of the sides of the box at this end may be folded back on themselves.

The box-shaped member may include strengthening pieces located inside the box against the said one end face.

The assembly may further include insulation for location around the sides of the box-shaped member. The insulation may include attachment points aligned with points on the sides of the box for securing the member to the wall.

The assembly may further include cladding for the said one end face of the box. The cladding may be a sheet of material having attachment points and a flue aperture aligned with those in the said one end face of the box.

The invention further provides a gas appliance installation comprising an assembly as defined above located in a wall, the box-shaped member being secured to the wall with the said one end face positioned to receive the gas appliance. The assem bly is particularly suitable for use with timber-frame walls, in which case the sides of the box are secured to the timber frame with the said one end face of the box flush with the front of the timber frame. The box is secured to the timber frame through insulation positioned around the sides of the box. A sheet of cladding material is applied to the said one end face of the box before the gas appliance is mounted thereon.

The invention further provides a method of installing a wall-mounted gas appliance, including the steps of positioning in the wall a preformed boxshaped member and securing the appliance to preformed attachment points in an end face of the box. The method may include the step of securing the box-shaped member to the wall through the sides of the box.

The method may further include the step of surrounding the sides of the box with insulating material and the step of applying a sheet of cladding material to the said end face of the box before the gas appliance is mounted thereon.

By way of example, the installation of a wallmounted gas boiler will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 illustrates a conventional wooden installation frame; Figure 2 shows an insulation piece for cladding the frame shown in Figure 1; Figure 3 is a view from the front of an insulation box constructed in accordance with the invention; Figure 4 is a view from the back of the box of Figure 3, and Figure 5 shows a template used in the installation.

Figure 1 shows a conventional wooden installation frame 1 (shown hatched for clarity) for a wallmounted gas boiler. The frame 1 with its insulation 2 has been built-up on site in the wall 3 of a timber-frame building using noggings and insulation pieces similar to those shown at 4 and 5 respectively which has been removed from the wall in preparation for the installation of the boiler.

When building-up the installation frame 1, the building must consult the installation instructions for the particular boiler that is to be mounted on the wall to ensure that the frame 1 is of an appropriate size and shape. He must also drill pilot holes 6 for fixing the boiler, again ensuring that these are correctly positioned for the particular boiler that is to be installed.

The front face of the frame must then be clad with insulation. This requires a large and comparatively expensive sheet of insulation as shown in Figure 2, which must first be marked-out by the builder with the appropriate fixing holes 7 and balanced flue aperture 8 for the boiler to be installed and then cut-out accordingly.

Following completion of the installation frame the boiler can be mounted on the wall using the fixing points 6, 7, with the balanced flue terminal of the boiler located in the aperture 8.

This whole procedure is labour intensive and, therefore, expensive. The sheet of insulation (Figure 2) required to clad the front of the installation frame 1 is also comparatively expensive and also does not provide a very satisfactory surface for decorating purposes.

Figures 3 and 4 show an installation box in accordance with the invention, which eliminates the need for the construction on-site of a wooden installation frame 1 as shown in Figure 1. The box is a metal construction which is closed at its front to provide a mounting face 10 (Figure 3) but is open at the back (Figure 4). The edges 11 of the front face 10 of the box are turned back around the sides 12 of the box and the back edges 13 of the sides of the box are turned back on themselves: this increases the rigidity of the box and, at the back of the box, eliminates a potentially-dangerous sharp edge.

To increase the rigidity of the box further two channel-shaped members 14 are located inside the box againstthefront 10 (Figure 4). The members 14 extend from the top to the bottom of the box, being secured to the top and bottom sides of the box and to the front at several points 14a.

The metal installation box is located in the wall of the building in place of the wooden frame 6 shown in Figure 1, with the front 10 of the box flush with the front of the timber frame of the wall to provide the surface on which the boiler will subsequently be mounted. The box is supplied as a standard component capable of being used with a range of boilers and does not require any on-site modification by the builder. To this end, an aperture 15 formed in the front 10 of the box, to receive the balanced flue terminal of a boiler, has a size and shape such that it will accommodate any one of the range of boilers. In addition, fixing holes 16 for the complete range of boilers are provided in the front of the box, it being understood that, for any one boiler, only a selection of these would be used.

When locating the installation box in the wall, the builder is required only to clad the sides 12 of the box with insulation 17 shown in Figure 4. The box is then screwed to the timber frame of the wall using holes 18 and 19 provided in the sides of the box and in the insulation respectively for this purpose.

It is necessary only to clad the front of the box prior to mounting the boiler. For this purpose, a sheet of insulation may be used (similar to, although not as large as, that shown in Figure 2) but, preferably, a sheet of plasterboard is used (provided that fire-resistance requirements can be satisfied). In either case, the sheet of cladding is cut to shape using a cardboard template shown in Figure 5. This template gives the positions 20 of fixing holes for the complete range of boilers and the builder is required to select only those required for the particular boiler to be installed and to mark these on the sheet of cladding. The position and shape of the relevant balanced flue aperture 21 must a'so be mad-cd on the cladding and cut out.

The use of plasterboard to clad .he front of the installation box is preferred not only kec suse ,t is cheaper but also because it provides a surface is compatible with the remainder of -11-all and much more acceptable for interior decoration pu- poses. When using plasterboard it should be sk-r- med flush and care should be taken to plaster riesht up to the terminal box of the boiler thereby sealing- off any gaps around the box.

An installation box as shown in Figure 3 could ae used with other balanced flue wall-mounted gas appliances, for example a wall-mounted gas tire. the box could also produced in materials cipher than metal, for example a suitable plastics ma.el-iai.

Claims (23)

1. An installation assembly for a wall-mountad gas-fired appliance, including a box-shaped member for location in the wall, an end face of the box having attachment points for mounting the gas appliance and a flue aperture for the appliance.

2. An assembly as claimed in claim 1, in which the box-shaped member is made of metal.

3. An assembly as claimed in claim i or claim 2, in which the sides of the box-shaped jmember have attachment points for securing the member to the wall.

4. An assembly as claimed in claim 1. in which the said end face is formed separately from the sides of the box-shaped member and the edges of the end faces are folded around the sides to sirengthen the box.

5. An assembly as claimed in any one c: The preceding claims, in which the box-saped member is open at the other end.

6. An assembly as claimed in claim 3, in which the edges of the sides of the box-shaped member at the said other end are folded back on themselves.

7 An assembly as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, including strengthening pieces located inside the box against the said end face.

8. An assembly as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, including insulation for location around the sides of the box-shaped member.

9. An assembly as claimed in claim 3 when appended to claim 3, in which the insulation has attachment points aligned with those on the sides of the box-shaped member for securig the member to the wall.

10. An assembly as claimed in any orc or the preceding claims, including cladding sr the said end face of the box-shaped member.

11. An assembly as claimed in claim a 10 in Which the cladding has attachment points a*. -- d wlth some at least of those in the said end face, and a flue aperture for location over that in the said o--r:d face.

12. A gas-fired appliance installation com prssing an assembly as claimed in any one of - e oreceding claims, the assembly being located in a wall with the said end face of the box-shaped member positioned to receive a gas-fired appliance.

13. An installation as claimed in claim 12 when appended to claim 3, in which the box-shaped member is secured to the wall at the attachment points in the sides of the member.

14. An installation as claimed in claim 13, in which the wall is a timber frame wall and the box-shaped member is secured to the timber frame.

15. An installation as claimed in claim 14, in which the said end face of the box is flush with the front of the timber frame.

16. An installation as claimed in claim 12 when appended to claim 8 or claim 9, in which the box-shaped member is secured to the wall, through the insulation at the attachment points in the sides of the member.

17. An installation as claimed in claim 12 when appended to claim 10 or claim 11, in which a gas-fired appliance is secured to the said end face of the box-shaped member through the cladding, at some at least of the attachment points in the end face.

18. A method of installing a wall-mounted gasfired appliance, including the steps of locating, in the wall, an assembly as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 11 and securing the appliance to the box-shaped member at some at least of the attachment points in the said end face.

19. A method as claimed in claim 18, further including the step of securing the sides of the box-shaped member to the wall.

20. A method as claimed in claim 18, in which the assembly is as claimed in claim 8 or claim 9 and further including the step of surrounding the sides of the box-shaped member with the insulation before the member is located in the wall.

21. A method as claimed in claim 18, in which the assembly is as claimed in claim 10 or claim 11 and further including the step of applying the cladding to the said end face of the box-shaped member before the appliance is secured thereto.

22. A method as claimed in any one of claims 18 to 21, substantially as described herein.

23. An installation assembly for a wall-mounted gas-fired appliance, substantially as described herein with reference to, and as shown in, Figures 3 to 5 of the accompanying drawings.