LPG bulk tank issue

[Borghetto]

I have a bulk lpg (1200 litres) tank in my back garden. This tank was installed 28 years ago and I understand they are rated for 30 years. When it was installed, my next door neighbour installed an identical tank on his side of the border fence. My tank is about 18 inches from this fence and my concern is that legislation may mean a new tank would need to be sited further away from my fence. Are there any fireproof fences I can have fitted, that would mean a new tank could be installed at the existing location. If not, would a breezeblock wall be acceptable.

[xyz123]

http://www.hse.gov.uk/gas/lpg/storagetank.htm

Possibly Not what you wanted to hear...

[Borghetto]

xyz123 said:

http://www.hse.gov.uk/gas/lpg/storagetank.htm

Possibly Not what you wanted to hear...

Thanks, it seems I'll have to move it a bit over a metre.

[ColinM50]

When I changed my oil heating to lpg, the company that supplied the gas and tank buried it in the garden. This was in France about seven years ago, don't know if the regs are the same here

[ARHarh]

You don't own the tank, the company you have a supply contract with own the tank. Surely it is there problem not yours. I have not read terms of the contract to understand the ins and outs. But i would be pissed off if I had to pay for a tank to be fitted then have to rent it after that. Whoever supplies your gas will have checked the tank when they took over your contract. And if you have not changed supplier in the last 2 years you will be paying a lot more than you need to.

[Andeh1]

Just bury it?

[Herbs]

Def the suppliers issue not yours which is good news although it will eat up space - I haven't read the link above but from memory earlier this year it has to be 4m from the boundary (doesn't matter what it is).

[Borghetto]

Very helpful everybody. I did go to the H&SE linked by xyz and they state 3 meters from the boundary for a 1200 litre tank or 1.5 meters if a fire wall is installed.

[bristolracer]

How much gas do you use?
If its just a cooker you can run it off large bottles.

[Borghetto]

I use it for heating a 4 bedroom bungalow with 10 radiators. Usage is around 2-2500 litres per annum.

[bristolracer]

Think you going to need a tank......

[guindilias]

Or a huge bottle bank, all run in parallel...

[Borghetto]

I use it for heating a 4 bedroom bungalow with 10 radiators. Usage is around 2-2500 litres per annum.

[guindilias]

Borghetto said:

Very helpful everybody. I did go to the H&SE linked by xyz and they state 3 meters from the boundary for a 1200 litre tank or 1.5 meters if a fire wall is installed.

You can normally get it as close as 1m for an above-ground tank with a fire wall - if you bury it, the 3m rule has to be maintained. And as you can imagine, that's not cheap - a nice concrete raft to stop the tank popping back out of the ground, and the tank tethered to that.

[V8RX7]

Borghetto said:

or 1.5 meters if a fire wall is installed.

My oil engineer accepted 18mm concrete board screwed to a 4x4 timber fence posts as fire proof - although please check before doing similar.

[theguvernor15]

OP, do you fancy donating your old one?!

[Borghetto]

theguvernor15 said:

OP, do you fancy donating your old one?!

As mentioned earlier in the thread, Calor own the tank, so sadly I'm unable to gift it to you.

[guindilias]

And they'll pressure-test it, clean it up with a nice new coat of paint and a new take-off, and use it again - there is a depot just down the road from my work where they do exactly that!