furnace in crawlspace ?

Question

I am looking to buy a house, I just viewed a house that had the furnace in the crawlspace. I have never heard of this, is there anything I should know or lookout for when dealing with this. Its a one story home with forced air heating and cooling

Jace Toy DDS · Accepted Answer

Before I begin, PLEASE READ AT LEAST THE FIRST two paragraphs and PLEASE, PLEASE visit the site listed in the source area at the bottom. We recently put an offer on a home that had the same thing! We figured that though unusual, maybe it was customary in the area since we were new and our realtor said it was NOT unusual. Well, guess what…we had our home inspection done (and not by the inspector our realtor suggested luckily). The inspector noted that it was NEVER an acceptable placement of the furnace and is a tremendous safety hazard even when ventilated. Your chances of carbon monoxide gas build up is hundreds of times greater than in a furnace placed in a basement or appropriate space in a home. This is why in almost all states, it is lnow illegal to install a furnace in a crawl space. We also found out that this is almost always done as a “retrofit” by a do-it-yourselfer homeowner that wanted to use the correctly appointed “systems” (furnace, hot water heater etc.) space to convert into living space. Unless the homeowner is willing to correct it and have the system brought up to code, your familys safety and perhaps, their actual lives are more valuable and important than any good deal. I myself would consider finding another house since great deals are or will be readily available in this housing market. After we found out about the immenent dangers of it for ourselves, we walked away with our earnest money since it was in our contract that we could continue or walk away after the inspection. We are glad we did, as we started wondering what other areas of that home had been “jerry-rigged” Best of luck!

Jace Toy DDS · Answer

I am a WI state licensed home inspector; there are furnaces designed to be installed horizontal (on there side) for uses in crawlspaces & attics. So the thought of one in a crawlspace is intially not a bad practice. Any furnace as well as anything else can installed wrong and cause problems. There is no greater concern of CO gases vesus being in a standard basement or a crawlspace as long as the installation is correct. Being installed in a crawlspace I believe there could be more issues to be concerned about such as the floor material of the crawlspace and the actually room from the crawlspace floor to the underside of the main floor. Nothing should be sitting in the dirt. As far as codes go it’s a pretty loaded concern; every community (and states) can have different codes and codes can frequently change each year, yes they are in place for a good reason it’s just something to be cautious about. For anyone buying a home; In the midwest I’d guess the average home price to be in the 150k to 205k price range, a home inspection in our area runs $275.00 to $350.00. For the money you spend on a home having someone come in for less than $400 is more than worth it, I would guess 1 in 5 homes I have made the client aware of costs over 2 grand that they were clueless on. A home inspection CAN be a huge life saver!

Jace Toy DDS · Answer

This Site Might Help You. RE:furnace in crawlspace ?I am looking to buy a house, I just viewed a house that had the furnace in the crawlspace. I have never heard of this, is there anything I should know or lookout for when dealing with this. Its a one story home with forced air heating and cooling

Jace Toy DDS · Answer

Crawl Space Furnace

Jace Toy DDS · Answer

My furnace is in the crawlspace. I have lived there for 8 years and had no issues. I have the furnace checked yearly….change my filters regularly which is no problem since it is almost 5 feet tall and I am barely that…..plus my furnace is hung from the ceiling so it doesn t sit on the floor.

Jace Toy DDS · Answer

Yes, crawlspace furnaces have been around a while, really they work great with a small area to work with.

Jace Toy DDS · Answer

This a common practice in Ohio-Calif.and Oregon. Is this furnace fossil fuel? If so be sure that it is vented properly. Also you can place a smoke bomb in the combustion chamber and turn the fan on at the thermostat. If smoke comes out the registers, you have a cracked chamber. Or get hold of a carbon monoxide tester and run the furnace. —Whatever type of furnace it is, remove any and all filters from under the house. Install a filter in the return air grille in the house.bigbair70—NEVER LET THEM SEE YOU SWEAT!!!!!!!!!

Jace Toy DDS · Answer

You must be looking at my old house, LOL. I had a furnance in the crawl space, but I had the filter upstairs so it was easy to change. Servicing the furnance or troubleshooting is a nightmare, however. I would reconsider if it is an older home. Mine was and re-lighting the pilot and maintenance was difficult in the crawl space.

Jace Toy DDS · Answer

https://shorturl.im/sIk2nAs long as it is NOT a multliple dwelling (Some citys have fire codes for these type of blgs & would want it in a fire froof room plus have a smoke/ Fire detector. You should beable to put one in a private house. It also MUST have a Vent on the outside wall to let in fresh combustion air from the outside of the bldg.

Jace Toy DDS · Answer

Would you buy a house with the gas furnace in the crawl space

Harmon Keeling

furnace in crawlspace ?

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