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Housing - Renovation: Weight of thermal store

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  1.  
    • CommentAuthormitchino
    • CommentTimeJul 2nd 2008
     
    I know it's a hard question to answer, but can anyone tell me roughly how big a thermal store I can install on the first floor of my house? It would be sitting at one end of joists that are supported by brick walls. I'm hoping to get a 500L - at 0.5 tonnes is that feasible?
  2.  
    Hi,
    If theres any doubt get a structual engineer to do a calc. It wont cost that much as an ad hoc job.

    Cheers, Mike up North
    • CommentAuthorCWatters
    • CommentTimeJul 2nd 2008
     
    What he said. The joists may well carry the weight if they are deep enough, but the boards on top of the joists might not. You might need to put a metal or wood frame down to spread the load over two or three joists.
    • CommentAuthortony
    • CommentTimeJul 2nd 2008
     
    That would be good practice in all cases even with a board on top too. So long as the weight is against a load bearing wall then it will be OK.
    • CommentAuthorjoe.e
    • CommentTimeJul 2nd 2008
     
    I believe the current building regs are based around a static load of 500kg per square metre; that's your 500l if your house was built to those standards. Can you get and have a look at the joists where they meet the walls? If it was me, I might be inclined to give a little extra support there in some way. As Mike says, a strutural engineer could drop by and give you a quick opinion.
    • CommentAuthormitchino
    • CommentTimeJul 3rd 2008
     
    The house was self built by a bloke in the 1930s. I've had a look at the structure, and the joists are 8" x 2" at 600mm spacings, supported across a 3.4m span by 2 rsj steel beams, which are in turn supported on brick and pad stone piers. The joists run the opposite way from what I originally thought - parallel to the external wall that the thermal store would be next to.

    As I want the store raised a bit I would be building a platform across the joists, so I can spread the load across two joists.
    • CommentAuthortony
    • CommentTimeJul 3rd 2008
     
    yes but it would still be best near one end and not in the middle. If it is near the middle build some supports into the wall.
    • CommentAuthorjoe.e
    • CommentTimeJul 3rd 2008
     
    Or if you can get in there, how about adding extra joists? You'd want their ends sitting on the RSJ's though, which might not be possible to achieve, depending on the details.
    • CommentAuthorSimonH
    • CommentTimeJul 4th 2008
     
    Question - is putting the store on the ground floor (near the boiler) out of the question? You don't have to stick it where the hot tank is now. It could be quite easy to redo the pipework as you can just close off the current connection at the tank end, board over the holes in the floor, and and connect the store somewhere else where there's a hot pipe nearby. That way you get the airing cupboard as a free space in a room upstairs. But there were quite a few assumptions there!
    • CommentAuthorTerry
    • CommentTimeJul 5th 2008
     
    Depending on your level of renovation, and if it must be upstairs, can you not disguise a supporting structure underneath as a build-in cupboard or a shower cubicle or a pantry or .... ?? Even a beefed up stud wall below to support the joists would help. Definitely try to spread the load over as many joists as possible.
    • CommentAuthorjon
    • CommentTimeJul 5th 2008
     
    >>I believe the current building regs are based around a static load of 500kg per square metre;<<

    Standard minimum residential loading to the current UK code of practice (BS6399) is 150 kg per metre. From your description it is likely that the load capacity of your floor may be marginally higher than this.

    You should get a structural engineer to evaluate if your tank is going to be anything bigger than a normal storage tank
    • CommentAuthorjoe.e
    • CommentTimeJul 5th 2008
     
    Posted By: jon>>I believe the current building regs are based around a static load of 500kg per square metre;<<

    Standard minimum residential loading to the current UK code of practice (BS6399) is 150 kg per metre. From your description it is likely that the load capacity of your floor may be marginally higher than this.

    You should get a structural engineer to evaluate if your tank is going to be anything bigger than a normal storage tank

    Definitely a structural engineer, and not me. Oops.
    • CommentAuthormitchino
    • CommentTimeJul 6th 2008
     
    Can't stick it on the ground floor, as I'll be gravity feeding from a Clearview 650. It might be that I don't need a store as big as 500L, I'm trying to figure that out at the moment - I'm about to start another thread where I'm hoping the heating brains that hang out here can help me do a calculation as to what size store I actually need.
    • CommentAuthorwookey
    • CommentTimeJul 14th 2008
     
    A thermal store at the same level as the woodburner can work (because the store is much taller than the stove). You might need to raise it 40cm (ish) off the ground or accept that the bottom 40cm will not get very hot, but it doesn't have to be upstairs.

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