Yellow or lifting flames
A lazy yellow flame on a hob or fire, or flames lifting off the burner, means the gas and air mix is wrong for LPG.
Installation, servicing and repair of LPG boilers on bulk tanks and bottles, by engineers who hold the LPG qualification on their Gas Safe registration.
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LPG gives an off-grid home the same kind of boiler, hob and controls as a house on the mains, which is why it is popular in the villages around Winslow where the gas network does not reach. What many people do not realise is that LPG is a separate qualification. An engineer registered only for natural gas is not allowed to work on an LPG boiler, however similar it looks.
Our Gas Safe registration covers both, and you can check the categories on the back of the engineer’s card before any work starts. We install, service and repair LPG boilers fed from a bulk tank in the garden or from a bank of bottles by the wall, and we work on the pipework and regulators between the supply and the appliance.
Around here that mostly means farmhouses, barn conversions and cottages on the lanes between Winslow, Mursley, Stewkley and the Claydons. If your home runs on oil instead, see our oil boiler service in Winslow.
LPG runs at a higher pressure than natural gas, 37 millibar at the appliance against roughly 20, and it carries more energy per cubic metre. A boiler has to be set up for it with the right injector or gas valve settings, then proved with a gas rate check and a flue gas analyser. We record the readings on every job.
The bulk tank itself normally belongs to your LPG supplier, who looks after the tank and its regulator. The pipework from there to the boiler is normally yours, and that is the part we install, test and maintain.
LPG behaves differently from mains gas when something is wrong. These are the signs to act on.
A lazy yellow flame on a hob or fire, or flames lifting off the burner, means the gas and air mix is wrong for LPG.
After a delivery or a bottle change the boiler will not light. Air in the line or a regulator that has locked out needs purging and resetting safely.
LPG is heavier than air and collects at low level. Turn off at the tank or bottles and call your supplier’s emergency number.
Heavy frosting on a regulator or bottle in use suggests the system is drawing more gas than it can vaporise, or the regulator is failing.
Rubber hoses perish and regulators wear. Both carry a date of manufacture and have a recommended replacement age.
Black marks around the flue terminal or inside the boiler case mean incomplete combustion. Stop using the boiler until it is checked.
Propane arrives as a liquid and boils off into gas inside the tank or bottle. A regulator then drops it to 37 millibar for the appliances. On bottles, an automatic changeover valve switches from the empty pair to the full pair without the boiler noticing, and shows a red indicator so you know to reorder. On a bulk tank the supplier usually monitors the level or tops up on a schedule.
Because LPG is heavier than air, any escape sinks and pools instead of dispersing. That shapes the rules: bottles and tanks stand outside in the open air, away from drains and cellar openings, and LPG appliances are not fitted in basements. It is also why testing for leaks with a gauge matters more than a sniff around the joints.
Most modern gas boilers can run on either fuel, but they leave the factory set for one. Converting means fitting the manufacturer’s LPG kit or changing the gas valve settings, relabelling the appliance and recommissioning it from scratch. Pipe sizing changes too, because LPG pipework is sized on different pressures and flows. We work it out for the whole installation, including a hob or fire on the same supply.
Bulk tank or bottles, the boiler make, and what is wrong or what you want fitted.
We check the supply, regulators and pipework, and run a tightness test before touching the appliance.
A written price for the service, repair or installation before work starts.
Gas rate and combustion checked against the manufacturer’s LPG figures, with the readings written down for you.
LPG jobs vary more than mains gas ones, because the supply side is part of the installation.
You get a fixed price in writing before any work starts, with parts and labour set out separately.
We work on LPG systems in Winslow and across the off-grid villages nearby, including Mursley, Stewkley, Drayton Parslow, Swanbourne, Nash and Whaddon. Everywhere on our coverage list is treated as local.
No. Gas Safe registration is broken into categories, and LPG is separate from natural gas. The engineer’s card lists what they are qualified for on the back, and you can also check on the Gas Safe Register website. We are registered for both.
For a boiler heating a whole house, a bulk tank is usually more practical because it holds far more gas and is refilled by tanker. Bottles suit smaller properties, low usage or sites where a tank cannot be placed. Four 47kg propane bottles on an automatic changeover is the usual bottled set-up for central heating.
Many can, using the manufacturer’s conversion kit or settings, but not every model. We check the make and model first. The conversion has to be done by an LPG qualified engineer, and the boiler is recommissioned and relabelled afterwards.
In most domestic contracts the supplier owns and maintains the bulk tank and its regulator. The pipework from the tank to the house and everything inside is the homeowner’s responsibility. If you are unsure, your supply agreement will say.
Every year, the same as a natural gas boiler. The service includes a combustion check against the LPG figures, a look at the regulator and hoses, and a tightness test on the pipework.
Put out any flames, do not operate electrical switches, and turn the gas off at the tank or bottles if it is safe to reach them. Open doors and windows, keep people away from low areas where gas can collect, and call the emergency number on your tank, bottle or supplier paperwork.
OFTEC registered servicing, burner repairs, tank checks and replacement for oil-fired boilers.
Oil boiler service in Winslow →Landlord gas safety records, appliance servicing, cooker and fire installs and gas pipework.
Gas engineer in Winslow →New gas, oil and LPG boilers surveyed, supplied and fitted, with the system cleaned and the paperwork registered.
Boiler installation in Winslow →Tell us whether you are on a tank or bottles and what the boiler is doing, and we will take it from there.