Gas installations & repair sponsored feature
Concealing boiler pipework – simple, quick & cost effective
and energy consumption while improving efficiency, it is also important that the updated systems look good and are cost effective Local authorities and housing associations have
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the potential to save thousands of pounds on annual repair, maintenance and improvement budgets, purely by choosing pre-formed boiler pipework casings over time consuming site made fabrications.
CUTTING COST, CUTTING TIME AND SAVING BUDGET Essentially, savings can be made in each of the following four sections: • Manufacture – How are the boiler casings made? • Materials – What materials are used in their manufacture?
• Methods – How are they fitted and secured? • Maintenance – Can the boiler casing be removed & replaced easily without damage?
s heating system refurbishment and upgrade programmes, particularly in social housing, aim to reduce emissions
Obviously, if cost or time can be removed from
these areas, then they will help reduce the budget required to achieve the end result. To get a better understanding of these elements, let’s explore each in a little more detail.
MANUFACTURE The traditional and still widely used approach for concealing pipework, is for boxing to be fabricated on site using wood or MDF with nails, screws or adhesive, followed with painting. Inevitably, this is a time intensive and costly solution. The Encasement solution is much simpler,
quicker and cost effective. Manufactured from pre-formed plywood to exact boiler dimensions and pre-finished with durable melamine or laminate, there’s no fabrication or painting required, which provides a consistent finish and saves even more time. As a result, typical cost savings of around £20
can be made on every casing installed, which equates to a budget reduction of £10,000 on every 500 properties.
MATERIALS Often the materials used to manufacture pipe boxing and boiler casings aren’t a major consideration, yet they should be, as there is a need to comply with the sustainable procurement policies that many local authorities now have in place. Encasement has already addressed the issue.
Only FSC® certified timber is used in the manufacture of our boxing and boiler casings. Also, we are the UK’s only manufacturer and supplier of pre-formed plywood boxing and casings that holds a Forest Stewardship Council FSC® ‘Chain of Custody’ certification. So, if you’re using similar products from
Pendock, you’re probably not compliant. If in doubt, check your specifications, as they’re likely to require FSC® compliance or certification.
METHODS Typically, where site made casings are used, the heating engineer will move on to the next flat once the boiler installation is done, leaving the fabrication and fitting of site made pipe casings to a joiner. As two trades and different skills are required, this inevitably adds time and cost. By using a pre-formed boiler casing, which has
already been supplied to the correct dimensions, there’s no need for fabrication and the freestanding casing just slides into place underneath the boiler, which can be done by a heating engineer.
MAINTENANCE The ‘whole life’ cost for site made casings escalates significantly, when routine maintenance visits are factored in to the equation, as they’re usually damaged or destroyed during their removal. This necessitates their replacement or re-manufacture, as well as re-fitting, all of which, increases budget. In contrast, pre-formed casings are self-
supporting, allowing them to be easily removed and replaced in seconds, dramatically reducing the time maintenance engineers need to be on site, and the corresponding cost.
CASE CLOSED! When evaluating pre-formed boiler pipe casings against site made alternatives, the comparative fitting costs alone should ensure that the decision to use pre-formed casings is an easy one to make. Yet, when the FSC® compliance and maintenance aspects are also factored in, it becomes, to quote one of our customers, “…a no-brainer.”
01733 266 889
www.encasement.co.uk 38 | HMM September 2017 |
www.housingmmonline.co.uk
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