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I have an oil-fired boiler in the basement. My basement is finished with a suspended ceiling. I noticed that some of the ceiling tiles are in contact with the pipes that go to the radiator. I would imagine these pipe get hot during the heating cycle. Are they hot enough to pose a fire hazard? Thank you.

isherwood
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Nash Dayspring
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    A furnace heats air. You have a **boiler**, even if it doesn't actually boil. See https://diy.stackexchange.com/q/75561/18078 – Ecnerwal Sep 05 '23 at 12:17
  • Welcome. Please take the [tour] to learn how to use this site. "Thanks" comments are discouraged. – isherwood Sep 05 '23 at 14:29
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    Incidentally, what are the ceiling tiles made of? If they are fibrous stuff that falls apart at the merest touch of an edge, they are OK. On the other hand, there is a slight chance that they are polystyrene, which you would want to replace anyway as, although the hot water pipes won't set them on fire, if they were to catch fire for some other reason then they are very dangerous as they drip molten burning plastic. – Andrew Morton Sep 05 '23 at 14:34
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    if they could start a fire, wouldn't they have done so by now? – dandavis Sep 05 '23 at 18:58
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    @Ecnerwal Interesting. I'm not familiar with that distinction. When I do a search what comes up on the search page is: "an appliance fired by gas, oil, or wood in which air or water is heated to be circulated throughout a building in a heating system." It's labelled 'North American English". Perhaps that's a British English distinction? – JimmyJames Sep 05 '23 at 19:14
  • No, the search result is garbage, @JimmyJames – Ecnerwal Sep 05 '23 at 19:29
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    @Ecnerwal Can you point to a reference? The wikipedia entry for [furnace](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Furnace) contains this text "Boiler, used to heat water; also called a furnace in American English when used for heating and hot water in a building" – JimmyJames Sep 05 '23 at 19:35
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    https://www.carrier.com/residential/en/us/products/furnaces/boiler-vs-furnace/ https://www.homeadvisor.com/r/boiler-vs-furnace/ https://www.petro.com/resource-center/boiler-vs-furnace-whats-the-difference https://www.cnet.com/home/energy-and-utilities/boiler-or-furnace-find-out-which-one-is-right-for-you/ and any competent heating professional. – Ecnerwal Sep 05 '23 at 19:47
  • Back to the question - it may be helpful to add a clear and well-lit photo of these pipes and where they touch the ceiling. That will show if the pipes are lagged or bare, and what they're likely made of, etc. – Criggie Sep 06 '23 at 02:08
  • @JimmyJames British English rarely has a need to refer to central hot air heating. Our central heating appliances are indeed called boilers. – Chris H Sep 06 '23 at 08:30
  • @Ecnerwal Thanks. I would normally say forced-air versus hydronic e.g.: I have forced-water hydronic system in my home. It's good to know that professionals call that a boiler. – JimmyJames Sep 06 '23 at 18:59

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Pipes to a water-based radiator holds liquid water, water at atmospheric pressures boils at 100°C (212°F) very few things have an ignition point at that temperature unless it's already an ignition risk in plain air.

And the water itself shouldn't get to boiling temperature at all. Water for heating is usually not more than 70°C (158°F) as it circulates. Enough to scald a person if in prolonged contact but well below the ignition temperature of typical building materials.

In case of failure of the temperature control which could force the heater on there is a redundant temperature control to cut off heating and a pressure relieve valve in the system to prevent an increase of temperature and pressure and prevent super heated steam from forming in the pipes.

ratchet freak
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    What if it is a very common steam based system? – rebusB Sep 05 '23 at 15:27
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    @rebusB see, as already linked above: https://diy.stackexchange.com/q/75561/18078 Residential boilers don't operate at high pressure, so the temperature is limited. – Ecnerwal Sep 05 '23 at 15:30
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    It might be worth noting that while there's no fire risk some materials could be damaged or degraded by the heat and/or varying temperatures. – JimmyJames Sep 05 '23 at 19:16
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    CHECK THE INSTALLTION INSTRUCTIONS, and don't rely on us for the right answer. FWIW, I recently installed a direct vent gas fireplace. I could put my hand on the vent without burning my hand, so could similar temp to your boiler temp. Still the inspector wanted a 3" clearance per code (without heat shield) OR closer if the installation instructions said it could be closer (manual said 1" clearance). – gns100 Sep 05 '23 at 21:52
  • @gns100 imagine covering it in a thick layer of flammable insulation, then leaving it running for hours, with the airflow restricted. It would get quite a bit warmer. Still probably not enough to ignite anything common, but it's much harder to prove than a touch test indicates. There's also a (much higher) risk of non-fire damage to some materials, with potential knock-on effects – Chris H Sep 06 '23 at 08:33