Open Mechanicals

[Zoe]

this thread is goibg nowhere because we get an odd question without a photo. my crystle ball is a lttle bit foggy and i can't see what it looks like. i just had a shoe repair guy tell me how can i tell you i can fix it, if i don't see it. so here unseen, the answers fly all over the place. buy yet we have no photo to look at. he probable didn't take one. mystic answers for a vague situation.

Appraiser can go back. Just say you forgot picture of HVAC and hot water tank. LOL

 

[Zoe]

I have seen many closets with just the air handler/heater in the closet, but they were very small closets and had a vented door on the closet.

The air handler and the hot water tank have to draw air from somewhere outside the closet.

Putting a sealed door up with no ventilation would not be good.

 

[Dublin ohio]

I have seen many closets with just the air handler/heater in the closet, but they were very small closets and had a vented door on the closet.

The air handler and the hot water tank have to draw air from somewhere outside the closet.

The air handler draws its air from the cold air return

I have never really seen a closet that big in a hallway without like vented door on it. It helps block noise for one thing. I don't really know why it was done that way.

Could possibly be a clearance issue

 

[Zoe]

The air handler draws its air from the cold air return

Could possibly be a clearance issue

Not necessarily true. It also has to create suction for the air. That is why the ones in small closets have vented door. The unit can't get all it's air in the return ducts whether cooling or heating.

On clearance, I agree with you if that is code issue. The unit also needs cooling on the exhaust and air supply on HVAC and gas fired hot water tank from air outside the closet.

 

[Zoe]

That exhaust pipe gets hot on top of the air handler and the hot water tank on gas fired units. There is no return air cooling. It has to come from the house.

The exhaust pipes I have looked at vent from both the exhaust and the inside air. They draw from two sources.

 

[Zoe]

Best bet if you don't want to call FHA/lender is take pictures and recommend inspection by licensed and bonded professional.

 

[Dublin ohio]

Not necessarily true. It also has to create suction for the air. That is why the ones in small closets have vented door. The unit can't get all it's air in the return ducts whether cooling or heating.

100% wrong concerning return air. Vented door for combustion air maybe.

 

[Zoe]

100% wrong concerning return air. Vented door for combustion air maybe.

Your smarter than I thought. I would not include "maybe"

 

[Mark K]

100% wrong concerning return air. Vented door for combustion air maybe.

Correct. Vented door is for combustion air, not for return air. In many of the older homes in this area there is a 6" duct, open on both ends, running up through the ceiling into the attic and that is where the combustion air comes from when the gas furnace is located in an interior closet. Solid door is acceptable in that case. No exterior vent requires louvered door.

Clearance on most furnaces is very small, only an inch or two, on the sides.

 

[Zoe]

Correct. Vented door is for combustion air, not for return air. In many of the older homes in this area there is a 6" duct, open on both ends, running up through the ceiling into the attic and that is where the combustion air comes from when the gas furnace is located in an interior closet. Solid door is acceptable in that case. No exterior vent requires louvered door.

Clearance on most furnaces is very small, only an inch or two, on the sides.

Still don't want a door that is closed sealed on that gas fired system. Some vent from in crawl space below the house for the combustion chamber and exhaust pipe to cool it. The heat is the problem with no ventilation for the exhaust.