Furnace In Attic Or Crawl Space
Furnaces should be installed in your basement or a mechanical room near the center of your house not in a vented attic vented crawl space or garage.
Furnace in attic or crawl space. If you have a standard efficiency 80 furnace it needs to be in a vented space for proper combustion. High efficiency furnaces aren t usually recommended for an attic. There are two options. Most of the issues that furnace might experience in an attic are due to extremely cold weather in this poorly insulated space.
So why put an hvac system up in the attic at all. The university of maine recommends proper venting of a crawl space to prevent radon gas buildup. Sadly this illustration comes from the web site of the air conditioning heating and refrigeration institute ahri. Just installing the furnace in the attic crawl way of a single story home gives protection from most flooding.
Attic hvac systems save space. During the fall we disconnected the old furnace and decided to install a new one in our attic space running new ductwork. So when we have a choice we prefer hvac systems located under the house. 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.
A furnace in the attic is a design that works for all homes. What can you do if you want to encapsulate. The hvac s air pickup is in the crawl space and it spreads the radon laden air into the house. In flood prone areas instaling a furnace in the attic provides protection.
Things seemed to be fine until we had a sustained cold and windy period. The current ductwork is in the crawlspace and we are replacing it all. Rarely will a sealed foam insulated attic deviate more than 15 degrees from the living space temperatures below it. If the crawl space does not have proper ventilation radon concentrates in the trapped air inside the crawl space.
An outdoor unit which houses the fan condenser and compressor and an indoor unit which holds the evaporator and fan. Well mainly it s a way to save space. Even when furnaces are put on the main floor floodwaters often overrun the first floor causing severe damage to the unit. My contractor suggested putting the furnace in the attic.
Don t put your furnace in the attic. Doesn t it need combustion air. Upgrade to a high efficiency furnace. What about my furnace.
A furnace can suffer from a drop in energy efficiency if it s in an unconditioned space such as an attic. Compare that with the daily 140 degree temperatures found in vented attics.