95% 2 ton gas furnace safety concerns for attic install
Djack21
| Posted in Mechanicals on
I am a general contractor in Vancouver WA. I have a customer that is concerned about attic fire caused by a gas furnace. The furnace that is in question is an American Standard 2 ton 40k two stage gas furnace 95% efficiency. There is a window at each end of the attic along with 10′ ceilings.
I have not been able to locate any literature that explains the sealed combustion chamber or intake or that talks about how safe they are so that I can provide that for my customer.
Hopefully I am in the right category.
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Replies
D. Jack,
As long as the furnace is installed in compliance with the manufacturer's installation instructions and in compliance with local building codes, there is no reason why the installation should raise fire safety concerns.
That said, some homeowners are afraid to have any gas appliances in their homes due to explosion fears or fire fears. If the homeowner doesn't want a gas furnace, it might be better to heat the home with an air-source heat pump.
One last point: while there may not be any fire safety concerns related to installing a furnace in an attic, there are certainly green building concerns. From an energy-efficiency viewpoint, installing a furnace in an unconditioned attic is a big no-no (because of the tremendous amount of energy waste associated with installing a furnace and ducts outside of the home's thermal envelope).