Is commercial gas "easier"?

[twitchboy]

I got talking to a commercial gas guy recently. He said that he finds it much easier than domestic. The fact that you're not going into peoples homes for once thing makes things less stressful.

Also he says that because everything in commercial gas is bigger it's less fiddly This combined with the fact that domestic boilers are full of all sorts of electronic parts these days, he claims, makes commercial gas work much more straightforward.

Does anyone agree?

 

[Dotty]

He's on the money, though the lower end of the commercial market has boilers full of electronic parts these days.

 

[snowhead]

Not Easier, Different.

As Croppie, lots of Commercial boilers are stuffed full of the same electronics as Domestic boilers.

Parts are sometimes phenomenally expensive, you've have to be fairly sure you need a part sometimes.

Inspect a flue it's full length, 10mtrs up into a warehouse, that'll be a scissor lift, then a cherry picker to get on the roof to inspect the terminal.
Try explaining the additional costs when , the previous guys never wanted to do that.

Domestic boiler not working, waiting for spares = 1 family short of hot water and cold.

Commercial boiler/ water heater not working = a whole factory / office block / food production unit short of hot water and loosing thousands a day.

 

[Dotty]

The old boy's probably the same as us, views commercial as easier because he's been doing it an age.

 

[lame plumber]

anything is easy if you know what your doing

 

[Jollysoutherner]

I qualified domestic but straight off started working for firm who were commercial building maintenance. In at the deep end working with commercial chap my 1st job was service on 2 x 300kw forced draft boilers followed by a NICHE 440kw direct fired air handling unit, all I could think of was my ACS domestic training and the dangers of flueless gas fires at 1.5kw, this lump was 440kw! Climbing inside the AHU cleaning the burner my thought was did I isolate the gas or is cremation on the cards


I keep my own gas safe reg for privates and have since qualified commercial and LPG. What do I prefer, no question its commercial for me. Filthy dirty plant rooms, the odd dead mouse or rat but it is clean dirt, you know where you stand. Domestic is shifting carpets and unmentionable stuff stuffed under the bed. Commercial also tests the brain while you work out what does what and bypass of the BMS to get things doing what they should.

Plus with commercial the ID situations are far bigger, stopped at plant room to pickup toolbox and smelt a gas leak, traced it to a duff bearing on a gas booster set. 400 staff sent home at 11am and no heat for 3 days while new boosters and pipework mods were installed. My largest shutdown to date

 

[twitchboy]

Plus with commercial the ID situations are far bigger, stopped at plant room to pickup toolbox and smelt a gas leak, traced it to a duff bearing on a gas booster set. 400 staff sent home at 11am and no heat for 3 days while new boosters and pipework mods were installed. My largest shutdown to date

Did you change the boosters yourself or is that a speciality job?

 

[Dotty]

It's not speciality but you do need the ticket to work on them.

And for the life of me I can't remember what you call it.

**It's the BMP1..... Just looked..............

 

[Jollysoutherner]

It's not speciality but you do need the ticket to work on them.

And for the life of me I can't remember what you call it.

**It's the BMP1..... Just looked..............

Easy ticket to add and one that brings in the work as well. Technical note from suppliers in September 2009 laid the ground rules and since speaking with rep for one of the suppliers they have sold 1000's of booster sets but only know the location of 100's. The remainder are currently ID due to casting issues on the compressor housing or a mixture of AR for no flexible pipework or rubber mounts. I've found boosters in ceiling voids and unventilated spaces after building work. As not many people have the ticket they go unchecked. Add to the cost purging both ways plus the necessary mods for remedial work its a good income.

 

[gasmanrob]

I started life out as a commercial apprentice mainly working on the smaller side of commercial. Spray booths, reznor and powermatic blower units and more ambi rads then you can shake a stick at. It was always made to look a doddle but personally I prefer domestic I have often thought about getting back into commercial but the market is not designed for one man bands.

 

[aligorgon]

I have domestic and commercial tickets but much prefer commericial work.

One of the major beauties for me is that in most plant rooms you have more than one boiler, so if one boiler isnt' working you can swap out the suspect part with the 2nd and confirm its faulty instead of wasting hundreds of pounds on the wrong part.

That said the commercial exams are a lot more difficult calculate IV's, purge volumes etc.

 

[gasmanrob]

I have domestic and commercial tickets but much prefer commericial work.

One of the major beauties for me is that in most plant rooms you have more than one boiler, so if one boiler isnt' working you can swap out the suspect part with the 2nd and confirm its faulty instead of wasting hundreds of pounds on the wrong part.

That said the commercial exams are a lot more difficult calculate IV's, purge volumes etc.

And de commissioning isn't as straight forward as cap it of have to purge it out then cap it. Have you seen the price of a purge rig! Ridiculous for what it is!

 

[Ermintrude]

Commercial is a lot more of a leisure activity. Unless your working on radiant tubes on a fully extended scissor lift and it's 2" out of reach. ( some forum members who work on commercial do have this issue on combis)

A well set out plant room is a delight to behold and joyous to work in, a steam boiler on a 40 year old filter press behind a rolling mill is not but that's more industrial process, however the Andrews water heater three floors above is commercial.

The fittings and pipe work is much sexier and immensely more expensive.

I find that you are left alone and have whatever you need, site agents won't stand for not having right gear but domestic your rushed as always sort of expected to 'make do' as jobs only a few 100.

I much prefer sites / industrial premises. But making good wonga on domestic systems.