Installing A Furnance In Your Attic

Space in your home is limited.

Installing a furnance in your attic.

In flood prone areas instaling a furnace in the attic provides protection. Attic furnace access passageway and platform. Selecting a unit that fits your needs is half the battle. We re getting proposals to install a new central ac and gas furnace in the attic of our home.

The following are attic furnace installation requirements based on 2009 irc and 2009 imc the codes refer to it as appliances in attics. Well mainly it s a way to save space. So why put an hvac system up in the attic at all. 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.

Attic furnace installation must comply with you local mechanical code or imc international mechanical code if such was adopted in your area. As long as the attic furnace is professionally installed you can expect a more even heating distribution through your house. There are rarely instances when we will advise against an attic installation. The attic is a sealed space by polyurethane foam and will need a combustion air source.

An outdoor unit which houses the fan condenser and compressor and an indoor unit which holds the evaporator and fan. Ideally you will have room for your furnace in the attic but installation up there can be difficult to manage. There is a common misconception that this is not possible for high efficiency furnaces. It is a reflection that your furnace might be old.

My plan was to get a high efficiency gas fired furnace in lieu of a heat pump or electric furnace. A furnace can suffer from a drop in energy efficiency if it s in an unconditioned space such as an attic. To do that you need to buy a new sealed combustion furnace with a ducted source of combustion air. Even when furnaces are put on the main floor floodwaters often overrun the first floor causing severe damage to the unit.

It s easier for technicians to service a closet furnace although the difference isn t too significant. The right thing to do is to enclose the attic install insulation along the roof plane and bring the furnace into the conditioned area of your home. Just installing the furnace in the attic crawl way of a single story home gives protection from most flooding. Most updated central air conditioned homes have a new air conditioner split system meaning the ac is broken up into parts.

Installing a furnace can be a difficult home improvement job to undertake.