Furnace in Attic for 1st floor (house, homebuyer, living)

[homebuyer12]

I just saw a house with a furnace in the attic for the whole house. This house was very small and then it was totally rebuilt and made bigger keeping the existing foundation. Would it make sense to have the furnace in the attic for a house like this.

[RhysNJ]

A "furnace" usually means a hot air system. Our shore bungalow has that. We had to replace an old hot water baseboard unit in a downstairs closet and decided to put a hot air unit in the attic with a new central air conditioning coil.

I think if we lived there year round, I would have kept (replaced) the baseboard boiler, but this allows us to easily winterize the house without draining the heating system, and allows for quick re-start in the spring.

If you're talking a boiler in the attic, I wouldn't be keen on that at all.

Rhys

[BobKovacs]

Are we talking about a 1-story house or a 2-story? Is there a basement that the furnace could have been located in instead?

Putting the furnace in an unconditioned attic isn't the ideal scenario (especially if it's a central AC unit as well), but it's not all that unusual either.

[homebuyer12]

This is a 2 story large house. There is a basement. I was looking for it in the basement and then was told it is in the attic. There were 2 separate zones. There were 2 separate units in the attic.

Do you think the builder took a shortcut by putting the furnace in the attic.

[RobRiguez]

My house is on a slab (no basement) and to make more living space on the first floor, they put the HVAC system in the attic. Horrible placement if you ask me. I would have MUCH rather given up a couple closets and smaller 1/2 bath on the first floor for an "Equipment room" if I designed it.

[homebuyer12]

Originally Posted by RobRiguez

My house is on a slab (no basement) and to make more living space on the first floor, they put the HVAC system in the attic. Horrible placement if you ask me. I would have MUCH rather given up a couple closets and smaller 1/2 bath on the first floor for an "Equipment room" if I designed it.

Why do you say it is horrible? I thought it only needed to be serviced twice year (once in winter and once in spring)

[BobKovacs]

Originally Posted by homebuyer12

.

Do you think the builder took a shortcut by putting the furnace in the attic.

Actually, I think they took the harder route. Why run ductwork all the way from the attic down to the first floor when you could have run it in the basement far easier? The only thing they may have saved on what the gas line, but they had to create chases down through the second floor, so they spent any savings on those.

[homebuyer12]

Originally Posted by BobKovacs

Actually, I think they took the harder route. Why run ductwork all the way from the attic down to the first floor when you could have run it in the basement far easier? The only thing they may have saved on what the gas line, but they had to create chases down through the second floor, so they spent any savings on those.

thank you for the reply. With the furnace in the attic for the first floor, will it still be able to heat the first floor properly or do you think it would it be more likely the first floor will be cold.

[RobRiguez]

Originally Posted by homebuyer12

Why do you say it is horrible? I thought it only needed to be serviced twice year (once in winter and once in spring)

AFAIK all newer HVAC systems only have to be "serviced" twice a year (Aside from filter changes)

The reason I think its dumb is the attic is not insulated and considered a cold/hot zone. So it has to work that much harder to overcome the cold/heat to keep the house at a constant temp.

[homebuyer12]

Originally Posted by RobRiguez

AFAIK all newer HVAC systems only have to be "serviced" twice a year (Aside from filter changes)

The reason I think its dumb is the attic is not insulated and considered a cold/hot zone. So it has to work that much harder to overcome the cold/heat to keep the house at a constant temp.

is your first floor harder to heat? is it colder. do you need to run the temperature higher to heat the 1st floor?