Author Topic: Has your furnace been checked???  (Read 4271 times)

Offline Sasquatch Jim

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Re: Has your furnace been checked???
« Reply #30 on: December 14, 2018, 12:09:09 PM »
 Just because your furnace may by electric doesn't mean it shouldn't be inspected periodically.
 About 12 years ago the electric furnace where I was living exploded with a loud bang.
 When I investigated the noise, I found the furnace on fire. This was an electric model with NO fuel of any kind going into it and it exploded!  I cut all the power into the house and began throwing water into the furnace area.  I had the fire out by the time the fire department got there but had them inspect the damage to be sure it had not spread into the walls.
 The large motor that turns the fan had stopped going around and heated up enough to begin vaporizing the insulation inside itself.   The heating coils became red hot and ignited the vapors causing the explosion and fire which had begun to spread outside the furnace by the time I found it.  Just because it is electric doesn't mean it is fool proof safe.
Sasquatch Jim        Humanoid, sort of.

Offline Lannis

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Re: Has your furnace been checked???
« Reply #31 on: December 14, 2018, 01:52:49 PM »
She gave you incorrect information.  Just one of many examples would be a Rinnai.  It’s a Category III vented appliance with models that put out up to 38,000 BTU’s.  Most whole house furnaces and boilers are rated between 80 and 140,000BTU’s so a Rinnai is powerful and efficient. 

It’s my professional opinion that Unvented heaters aren’t safe.  Combustion gases should never be allowed to remain in your living space.  You wouldn’t park your car in the living room and let it idle while you sat on the couch watching tv.

My personal inclination (not as a professional but just a lifetime of experience burning and heating things) matches with yours.

However, lots and lots of companies sell lots and lots of people "ventless" heaters that are used to heat houses all the time, within all the usually-overly-tight building codes, and I don't hear about people dying from them very much ....

I looked at the Rinnai heaters and realized that I'm not just talking about a heating unit; I'm talking about something that would take the place of the fireplace, with a visible and possibly less-efficient flame, but which would put out a reasonable amount of heat via fans and/or heat exchangers ....

So maybe I'm asking too much of a system.

Lannis
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Offline EldoMike

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Re: Has your furnace been checked???
« Reply #32 on: December 14, 2018, 02:35:20 PM »
In the mid 70's I had a foreign car repair shop.  One winter day with about six inches of snow on the ground I was adjust the twin carbs on a MG at the back of the shop with the doors shut because of the cold...Had a ceiling mounted gas furnace running also.  As I was adjusting the carbs I suddenly felt funny and stood up...a buddy of mine found me laying half out of the walk through door in the snow.  I didn't even remember walking to the door...took me a while to get over it and am still very sensitive to CO...be careful out there!

Offline Mike Tashjian

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Re: Has your furnace been checked???
« Reply #33 on: December 14, 2018, 02:37:19 PM »
Ventless heaters have Oxygen depletion sensors which will shut the units down if the unit is working properly and the O2 goes too low.  I could not in good conscious recommend one for daily use as a primary heat source to anyone.  I would think any building code worth a crap would specify that these are no more than ornamental in nature.  Your primary heat sources burning fuels should be of the vented type and inspected variety.  I have a nice direct vent wood stove look appliance in my back three season room.  It easily heats a 20 x 20 fully insulated space and looks like a real wood fire as it burns.  It can put out up to 35K BTU's and runs on natural gas or propane(if conversion kit is installed).  It is just over 80 % efficient with the length of direct vent it uses. It also cost me over two grand ten years ago.  I thought I would try a unvented one out there and the room was too tight.  The pilot was going out because it burning up all the O2 when no one was out there. It was literally only the pilot light burning. The sensor was working and I was lucky that it did not hurt anyone.  Mike

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Re: Has your furnace been checked???
« Reply #33 on: December 14, 2018, 02:37:19 PM »

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