Furnace In Attic Safe

If you don t have a crawl space or a basement then it can be a challenge to place a furnace on the ground floor of the structure.

Furnace in attic safe.

If the closet is next to one of the bathrooms as it often is this gives you a nice remodeling opportunity. Attics are often ventilated to the outdoors and are not typically part of the air conditioned space in the home. Typically the fresh air intake will be located in your attic or ducted to the return side of the home s central air handler. If it s less than 90 percent it will be less efficient.

The trick to the installation of a gas furnace in an attic space is routing the condensate drain from the attic down through the core of the house to the basement. Even when furnaces are put on the main floor floodwaters often overrun the first floor causing severe damage to the unit. As a result any air leaks here mean the air goes outdoors. Keep a 90 percent furnace out of an attic if you have cold temperatures.

With all that said you can generally count on attic placement being a bad idea in part because high efficiency furnaces which dominate the market today just can t function in attic space usually due to both the volume of air necessary for operation and because of safety considerations. There s usually nothing up in an attic aside from some stored items so a furnace won t take up useful space. That puts a real drag on the efficiency of your unit whether it s an air conditioner or a furnace. Furnaces installed in attics can be vulnerable to breakdowns since they can be largely forgotten when not in.

Keep bathroom fans and window units turned off. In flood prone areas instaling a furnace in the attic provides protection. It s just as safe for it to be in the attic as it is in the basement. You ll also free up a closet.

The biggest advantage of having an attic furnace is that it s a space saver. One point about a 90 in the attic in a cold climate is if the proper steps are not taken you can freeze a condensate line up there. There are rarely instances when we will advise against an attic installation. This drain removes the excess water that a heating system will generate.

A home s furnace is commonly located in a secluded area from a closet to a basement. A furnace in the attic is a design that works for all homes.