Removing curtains near new cooker

[magpie patrick]

Juno is getting a new cooker. The guy who is fitting it, who is Gas Safe registered and works on a lot of boats including a hire fleet,  is adamant the curtains have to go whilst also understanding that leaving the windows with no blind at all isn't especially satisfactory. 

 

Any thoughts on how to have a little privacy once the curtains have gone? 

 

The kettle is there to indicate where the cooker will be - there is presently no cooker at all. 

 

Thank all! 

[Alan de Enfield]

Our cooker is set lower down / smaller windows but this passed the BSS several times.

Alternatively consider a roller blind ?

 

 

 

 

[MtB]

What's wrong with the standard method of removing the curtains, then putting them back once the bloke has gone?

 

That way, everyone is happy! 

[PeterF]

Aluminium venetian blind, our has one above / behind the cooker and passed BSS.

 

 

[1st ade]

Our neighbours (house) have given up with curtains and frosted most of their windows (It's a plastic film which may not satisfy BSS anyway...) - from outside you can't see in but you can see if the lights are on (which you could with curtains). Of course it loses the "$#!t I hadn't realised we were that close to the lock" but it avoids the "why are you drawing the curtains, it's only ..."

[Jess--]

our cooker had a glass cover that lifted up behind the rings, the window above had a roller blind fitted.

 

never even got a second glance at bss time.

 

[MtB]

This thread is a great example of where the BSS can be a matter of opinion.

 

How come Juno has a BSS in the first place with those curtains that must be removed? 

 

 

Edit to add: Oh hang on, just noticed the OP says there is no cooker there at the moment... duh...! 

 

Edited April 8, 2022 by MtB

[Alan de Enfield]

1 minute ago, MtB said:

This thread is a great example of where the BSS can be a matter of opinion.

 

How come Juno has a BSS in the first place with those curtains that must be removed? 

 

Maybe because a new cooker is being fitted where there wasn't one before ?

 

35 minutes ago, magpie patrick said:

The kettle is there to indicate where the cooker will be - there is presently no cooker at all. 

 

[Jen-in-Wellies]

Replace the window glass with obscured glass, as used in bathrooms? OK, you can't see out of it either, but it will still let light in.

[GUMPY]

There is a tictoc / YouTube video taken from Google maps of a house "Near Bradworthy Inn" where the person in the house really should have closed the curtains😱

I'm not posting a link as it's very much NSFW.

[magpie patrick]

Thanks everyone 

 

Juno had a cooker and a BSS when I bought the boat 14 years ago, however for reasons not related to the curtains the cooker failed the BSS and was removed so she has never, in my ownership, gone through a BSS with a cooker in my ownership, I just managed without - it's ten years since she went further than Avoncliffe and if one is only going for a day trip, or is staying overnight at the mooring, one can manage without a cooker, not least because I have shore power and a very good cafe nearby. However adventures are planned again and I'm not going away for two weeks without a cooker! Juno's cabin is entirely window - there is no "not next to the window" option.  

 

My guess is that 14 years ago the arrangement was accepted because "it was built like that" before BSS was compulsory - certainly the pipework was regarded as okay then but was one of the features condemned ten years ago as it's buried in the fibreglass. 

[David Mack]

3 hours ago, magpie patrick said:

Juno is getting a new cooker. The guy who is fitting it, who is Gas Safe registered and works on a lot of boats including a hire fleet,  is adamant the curtains have to go

Well challenge your fitter. While curtains may pose a fire risk, the only relevant requirement in the Boat Safety Scheme is that curtains, blinds and other textiles near appliance flues and exhausts must not show signs of heat damage such as scorching, blistering or discolouration. There is no blanket(!) ban on having textiles near appliances.

 

You can also get fire-retardent curtains.

 

Or perhaps you could hang your fire blanket in front of the window.

Edited April 8, 2022 by David Mack

[Tony Brooks]

Can you still get glass fibre curtains. My mum had some and when done with  used the to  patch rust holes in the car.

[magpie patrick]

46 minutes ago, David Mack said:

Well challenge your fitter. While curtains may pose a fire risk the only relevant requirement in the Boat Safety Scheme is that curtains, blinds and other textiles near appliance flues and exhausts must not show signs of heat damage such as scorching, blistering or discolouration

 I can do that, but the likely answer is that he will tell me to find another fitter - he isn't working to BSS, he is working to what GasSafe says and what his conscience is telling him - I do similar on the conscience thing with my business "If you want to do that, go elsewhere" - I wouldn't work for a developer who wanted to fill in an abandoned canal for example.

 

I am also more concerned with the risk than what BSS has to say about it - I don't want to test the safety of the arrangement by setting fire to the curtains! I have however noted MtB's suggestion of just putting the curtains back afterwards! 

 

[To add - the curtains are life expired anyway - they won't be there for the next BSS in 2026, they will have been replaced so to some extent the question is about their replacements] 

[haggis]

When we got gamebird we thought the curtains on the window behind the cooker were a fire risk so we replaced them with flame retardant non see-through roller blinds. Much safer

[pete.i]

Why is this even being discussed? The gas guy is 100% right. Why is it so hard to remove the curtains and fit a roller blind. Suggesting that the OP should just remove the curtains and then put them back after the BSS is stupid and highly dangerous.

[cuthound]

1 hour ago, haggis said:

When we got gamebird we thought the curtains on the window behind the cooker were a fire risk so we replaced them with flame retardant non see-through roller blinds. Much safer

 

Both of the shareboats we had used this solution.

[Tracy D'arth]

No curtains and reflective film on the glass?  Fireproof roller blinds are great and safe. I have always found it better to agree with registered trained professionals than try to hoodwink them.

[ditchcrawler]

4 hours ago, magpie patrick said:

Thanks everyone 

 

Juno had a cooker and a BSS when I bought the boat 14 years ago, however for reasons not related to the curtains the cooker failed the BSS and was removed so she has never, in my ownership, gone through a BSS with a cooker in my ownership, I just managed without - it's ten years since she went further than Avoncliffe and if one is only going for a day trip, or is staying overnight at the mooring, one can manage without a cooker, not least because I have shore power and a very good cafe nearby. However adventures are planned again and I'm not going away for two weeks without a cooker! Juno's cabin is entirely window - there is no "not next to the window" option.  

 

My guess is that 14 years ago the arrangement was accepted because "it was built like that" before BSS was compulsory - certainly the pipework was regarded as okay then but was one of the features condemned ten years ago as it's buried in the fibreglass. 

2 hours ago, pete.i said:

Why is this even being discussed? The gas guy is 100% right. Why is it so hard to remove the curtains and fit a roller blind. Suggesting that the OP should just remove the curtains and then put them back after the BSS is stupid and highly dangerous.

Its not a BSS failure

[MtB]

4 hours ago, pete.i said:

Why is this even being discussed? The gas guy is 100% right.

 

Well I'm not so sure he's right. On a common sense level yes but technically, I can't think of any GSR regulation beyond 'evidence of heat stress' that says specifically that curtains cannot be above a hob. After all plenty of kitchen cupboards are, and they are flammable too. The highest authority on clearances from flammable materials is the manufacturer's installation instruction manual for the exact cooker proposed. 

 

My suspicion is he might be applying the (stricter0 commercial and hire boat regs that he normally works with. 

 

 

[beerbeerbeerbeerbeer]

Sometimes common sense rules the day. 
 

Get some chainmail curtains. 

 

[Ronaldo47]

In more than 40 years of hiring boats, to the best of my recollection the cookers have always been aligned at right angles to, and spaced away  from, the walls and windows. Perhaps this reflects different standards for hire boats? 

Edited April 8, 2022 by Ronaldo47

[Tracy D'arth]

5 minutes ago, Ronaldo47 said:

In more than 40 years of hiring boats, to the best of my recollection the cookers have always been aligned at right angles to, and spaced away  from, the walls and windows. Perhaps this reflects different standards for hire boats? 

Maybe but more likely is to be able to present then to a vertical wall rather than then stick out due to lower hull angle. Lids too work better vertically rather than up against the tumblehome.

[David Mack]

9 hours ago, magpie patrick said:

The guy who is fitting it, who is Gas Safe registered and works on a lot of boats including a hire fleet,  is adamant the curtains have to go

 

5 hours ago, magpie patrick said:

I am also more concerned with the risk than what BSS has to say about it

 

So it's not what the fitter says that matters. You have already done your own risk assessment (informally). So as a first step I would remove the curtains anyway, then the fitter can go ahead with a clear conscience. Then you can decide what to replace the curtains with.

A metal venetian blind will be incombustible. A fabric roller blind is probably as combustible as curtains, but spends more of its time rolled up out of the way at the top of the window. As I said earlier, fire retardant curtains are available - they are a requirement for care homes and the like and Google suggests several suppliers.

[bizzard]

The curtains could be made from an old fire blanket.