Even when furnaces are put on the main floor floodwaters often overrun the first floor causing severe damage to the unit.
Upflow furnace in attic.
The current 20 year old gas unit is a small 40k btu upflow unit installed vertically.
The biggest advantage of having an attic furnace is that it s a space saver.
Comfort upflow furnaces heat from the floor up and many people find this a little more comfortable than from the ceiling down.
The upflow furnace converted to horizontal aligns and attaches the txc coil as in fig ure 1.
Warm air from below tends to be more comfortable and is less likely to pool in one place compared to warm air from above.
An upflow furnace in the basement offers several advantages beyond energy efficiency.
Better energy efficiency because heat rises upflow furnaces tend to be more energy efficient than downflow ones.
An upflow configuration is typically selected when the ductwork is located above the furnace such as in a home s basement.
The furnace may be installed in an attic or crawl space in the horizontal position by placing the furnace on the left side as viewed from the front in the vertical posi tion.
If you want to purchase a mid efficiency furnace for your home then the price profile for the equipment is similar with a downflow model compared to an upflow one.
However the coil requires additional support.
If the closet is next to one of the bathrooms as it often is this gives you a nice remodeling opportunity.
Some of the benefits of an upflow furnace are.
Upflow furnaces can also be described as a highboy or a lowboy.
Mrcool 135 000 btu 80 afue upflow horizontal multi speed gas furnace with 24 5 in.
In flood prone areas instaling a furnace in the attic provides protection.
Just installing the furnace in the attic crawl way of a single story home gives protection from most flooding.
The drain must be installed through the core of the house as water will be flowing during the colder months.
You ll also free up a closet.
There s usually nothing up in an attic aside from some stored items so a furnace won t take up useful space.
Expect to pay around 1 000 for the equipment along with another 1 000 to install it for most geographic locations.
Cabinet model mgm80se135d5a 1 035 00 1 035 00.
Upflow furnaces need to be placed in a basement or crawlspace to be energy efficient as they work on the principle that warm air rises.
The trick to the installation of a gas furnace in an attic space is routing the condensate drain from the attic down through the core of the house to the basement.
The attic has a ceiling high enough that you can stand up in it.
The airflow will come from floor registers rather than the ceiling registers common in attic installations.
For the homeowner the important distinction between the two is that the lowboy is shorter typically around 4 feet in height.
The flex supply ducts come out the top and are routed through the rafters next to the roof on straps before dropping back down through the floor of the attic into the bedroom ceiling registers.