You're going to need something larger than a 1x2 metre broom cupboard to fit all that in.

Given that a modern home in the UK is only slightly bigger than a rabbit hutch, anything big enough to be a plant room would be labelled a bedroom by an estate agent hoping to add a few thousands to the price.

Some dwellings is USA have 2 plant rooms.  This way they can separate out the services like batteries/inverters from MHVAC (Mechanical Heating Ventilation

Agreed!

Sergio Fernandez said:

The Plant Room/Services room could be used to house some of the following
Boiler Gas/Electric/Hydrogen
CU/DB (Consumer Unit/Distribution Unit)
Power inverter and batteries

don't forget the heat recovery ventilation system.

as for "made mandatory", I'd say no - it's just far too inflexible. Adequate space for such facilities (where needed), yes that's probably reasonable, but a single dedicated space per dwelling feels rather inflexible. The best place for PV related gear might well be in the loft, heavy items like thermal stores in the basement, heat pump and batteries outside and the CU close to where the power has to come in (which often has to be close to the front of the property to meet supplier/DNO rules). On the other hand for blocks of flats, such items may well shared between many dwellings, so a plant room in each dwelling would be wasteful.

   - Andy.

Most of us don't live in a house that has all those places to put things.

Look at a modern terrace house.  Then ask yourself where the solar battery is going to go if it's not allowed in anything but a dedicated plant room or fire-resistant garage indoors, and can't be within 1 metre of a door or window outdoors.  Then you have the same problem as to where to put the ASHP, but that's also not allowed to be within 1 metre of the neighbours.

We had a room like that, around two metres square, on the back of our house when I was a kid, we called it “The coal hole” other people called theirs a “coal house” or “coal shed”.

There was a set of loose wooden boards that went behind the door frame, allowing the coal to be stacked up with falling out.

That's a great idea in order to make a safer and more reasonable practical of usage when you have everything together in that plantroom.

Unfortunately I don't see it happening in the new build flats in the UK, agreed with Simon and Chris below when in new average build apartments and dwelling you've got such a minimal space to live and every extra space they will be looking to make profit out of it.

However I believe this could be an option in larger new build properties i.e detached or semi detached 3 bed or 4 bed and this option could accommodate the space for building up a safe plant room, like you Sergio mentioned in USA dwellings.

Hi Sergio,

I think as often happens with your suggestions I'd need to turn this around to: what's the problem you're trying to solve? Any change to regulations needs to start with a definition of the problem, and then a set of constraints, and then the proposed solutions. The V model really does work well - define what your system is, identify the hazards in it, determine the risks, and then work out what safety requirements it's sensible to put in place. (In the day job I spend a lot of time resolving projects where solutions to safety problems have been created with no clear rationale of how and why these are the best solution to manage all the hazards. As engineers we do tend to like to start at the bottom of the V because the technology is the fun bit...)

I suspect working through that process you may find that you have a number of problems here which may have contradictory (or at least not complementary) constraints. For example, if I was to add solar power with battery backup to this house would I want the batteries in the same room as my gas boiler? Maybe the answer is yes, but it would need thinking through - on the face of it it sounds a bit...exciting.

What then would be more likely to happen would be that you'd end up with regulations to say (as they pretty much do)  "a boiler must be mounted in space x, ventilated according to y etc etc" and so on for the other equipment you mention, which may result in a sensible solution being a plant room - where there is room for it. In other designs distributed "rooms"  may achieve the same result, basically where we are today. But of course there could be guidance to say "this may be achieved with a plant room" and then list what should and shouldn't be in the same room, and point to the regs that give the requirements and limitations for such a room. 

The only time it's sensible to have mandatory requirements is where there is only one acceptably safe solution to a problem (footnote). This seems on the face of it like a collection of problems with multiple possible solutions between them. But that's not to say it may turn out out - with refinement - to be this solution for new builds, however to determine this it does need a clearer start point of what the problem is.

(Footnote: yes there are many building regs, for example, that don't follow this rule, those of us who live in older houses are often particularly aware of this. My favourite at the moment is the vents that will be in the new double glazing I'm about to have fitted, the last thing my house needs is more vents! It's the other part of the battle, sometimes if you don't make something mandatory because a few cases need a different solution then you risk people using that as an excuse to cut corners, or a reg that's really complicated to apply. Writing regs is a nightmare...)

So following that process, what do you think the problems are that we currently have with domestic plant?

Thanks,

Andy

Hi Andy

There are several factors

The new builds should last at least 100years but they seem to use materials and technology that will only last 5 to 10 years at best.
Eg Chipboard flooring.  Awful to get up for maintenance work, over time they become weak or start to absorb moisture.  MDF door and surrounds will also in time absorb moisture

Current issue and some future issues
Gas boiler being phased out within the next 5 to 10 years and replaced by Electric/Hydrogen sometime require new cabling with no simple route back to CU/DB
Some people are considering using heat recovery to make the dwelling more efficient after the correct insulation is installed
Lack of EVSE provision, eg some builders put in a 2.5mm2 CSA at best which mean no EVSE and even if there was it would take days to charge a vehicle, better design would be to use a 16mm2 CSA SWA or provide a trucking/conduit for the later routing of EVSE cable and Data comms

People are starting to put Solar PV on roof space and walls and then find no real place to put the battery and inverter see PAS 63100:2024
Air source/ground source heat pump systems
Future proof for new and developing technologies and looking to the future in which more domestic dwellings will become Pro-Summers

Plants rooms also give better access for inspection, testing and maintenance.  Eg some new build have the CU/DB in the kitchen at the back of a deep cupboard this then means that sometime the kitchen cupboard needs to be removed for work to take place.  Others may have the CU/BD in the downstairs WC where potentionally it could be exposed to water or is too cramped to get a ladder or set of steps in there.

Plants rooms could also be used for central points of isolation for emergency services or trade people as well as the people living in that dwelling

Some of us still have a coal hole.