Furnace In Attic Or Crawl Space

Don t put your furnace in the attic.

Furnace in attic or crawl space.

In flood prone areas instaling a furnace in the attic provides protection. Most updated central air conditioned homes have a new air conditioner split system meaning the ac is broken up into parts. Just installing the furnace in the attic crawl way of a single story home gives protection from most flooding. The university of maine recommends proper venting of a crawl space to prevent radon gas buildup.

An outdoor unit which houses the fan condenser and compressor and an indoor unit which holds the evaporator and fan. The hvac s air pickup is in the crawl space and it spreads the radon laden air into the house. If the crawl space does not have proper ventilation radon concentrates in the trapped air inside the crawl space. What about my furnace.

Upgrade to a high efficiency furnace. So why put an hvac system up in the attic at all. So when we have a choice we prefer hvac systems located under the house. Attic hvac systems save space.

High efficiency furnaces aren t usually recommended for an attic. Even when furnaces are put on the main floor floodwaters often overrun the first floor causing severe damage to the unit. Doesn t it need combustion air. During the fall we disconnected the old furnace and decided to install a new one in our attic space running new ductwork.

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. Things seemed to be fine until we had a sustained cold and windy period. Sadly this illustration comes from the web site of the air conditioning heating and refrigeration institute ahri. We are remodeling a 1950s home with a beast of a furnace in the basement crawlspace area pretty good space down there the home is about 3300 sq feet in northern california we dont get super cold here sometimes some frost on the roof lawn but that s about it.

My contractor suggested putting the furnace in the attic. What can you do if you want to encapsulate. A furnace in the attic is a design that works for all homes. The current ductwork is in the crawlspace and we are replacing it all.

Most of the issues that furnace might experience in an attic are due to extremely cold weather in this poorly insulated space. Well mainly it s a way to save space. Rarely will a sealed foam insulated attic deviate more than 15 degrees from the living space temperatures below it. You might not receive the same air movement benefits if the unit is in a garage either.

If you have a standard efficiency 80 furnace it needs to be in a vented space for proper combustion. A furnace can suffer from a drop in energy efficiency if it s in an unconditioned space such as an attic.