Home Safety

REMODELING AROUND GAS APPLIANCES

Hot water heaters and furnaces can not be located in a bedroom, bathroom or clothes closet.

All oil and gas burning appliances need a plentiful supply of air to operate efficiently and safely. When a gas or oil-burning unit is starved of air/oxygen it burns inefficiently and creates excessive amounts of carbon monoxide.

At the time a gas/oil burning furnace or hot water heater is installed, the installer and the local building inspector make sure that the unit has an adequate air supply to operate properly. It may be that the room the units are located in is very large. However, if a remodeling project reduces the size of the room by putting up walls, the available oxygen/air supply will be reduced substantially creating a potentially life-threatening situation.

If the furnace and/or hot water heater is located in a small closet type room, it must have adequate air supplied through vent pipes from the attic, louvered doors to the room, or a large air vent in the wall.

Note: Vent or breather pipes to the attic must extend above the insulation. One pipe should terminate 12 inches below the ceiling, and the second pipe 12 inches from the floor.

In many cases the service switch to turn off the furnace is in fact the breaker, this is acceptable as long as it is within sight of the furnace and not further than 50 feet from it.
If remodeling, a switch will need to be installed on the furnace if the electric panel is no longer in line of site.

Code for combustion air.
Unconfined space - minimum 50 cubic feet of space per 1000 btu per hour.
Confined space - two openings 100 square inches each, freely communicating with unconfined space.

NOTE: This is just for one unit, if there is a furnace and hot water heater in the same room, more air will be necessary.

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