How To Install A Gas Furnace In An Attic

Attic furnace passageway and service area electrical requirement.

How to install a gas furnace in an attic.

Worked great till we had a good freeze. Didn t give it a second thought to tie the furnace drain with the a c evap drain and added heat tape as per mfg specs. That means you have higher energy costs and less efficiency since you re blowing the air down instead of allowing it to rise naturally. Just installing the furnace in the attic crawl way of a single story home gives protection from most flooding.

In flood prone areas instaling a furnace in the attic provides protection. If you place the furnace in the attic then you must install the infrastructure in the building to force the warm air to the bottom floor. Attic furnace installation must comply with you local mechanical code or imc international mechanical code if such was adopted in your area. Even when furnaces are put on the main floor floodwaters often overrun the first floor causing severe damage to the unit.

The combustion chamber will also be vented to the exterior so not much chance of a carbon monoxide problem either. Most of the issues that furnace might experience in an attic are due to extremely cold weather in this poorly insulated space. Modern gas furnaces are electronic ignition and when the flame isn t burning there is no pilot light gas being used etc. The total drop in efficiency can be up to 35.

Attic furnace access passageway and platform. A furnace can suffer from a drop in energy efficiency if it s in an unconditioned space such as an attic. High efficiency furnaces aren t usually recommended for an attic. The drain must be installed through the core of the house as water will be flowing during the colder months.

The following are attic furnace installation requirements based on 2009 irc and 2009 imc the codes refer to it as appliances in attics. I remember when the 90 furnaces first came out i sold one to replace a horiz 80 in the attic which had an ac evap coil connected to it.