Any time you choose to install new heating equipment, quality installation is a must. Your condensing gas furnace installation is no different; it needs to be installed the right way to function properly. Avoiding installation errors can benefit your household and offer typical heating savings of up to 35 percent. Keep these points in mind when working with your heating contractor to ensure your new condensing gas furnace is installed properly.
Sizing is Key
- For your condensing gas furnace to be effective and efficient, it needs to be sized properly for your space.
- Review with your contractor the proper sizing, which will prevent short firing cycles and temperature swings.
Outside Air Should Be Used for Combustion
- Household products can contaminate the air indoors, which can be damaging if fed into the furnace.
- Your contractor should install the furnace in a location where indoor air won’t be fed into the condensing gas furnace.
Proper Venting and Drainage Is a Must
- Your condensing gas furnace installation should be properly vented to exhaust outdoors. Venting mistakes can allow dangerous carbon monoxide to enter your living areas.
- The exhaust pipe should slope down toward the outside of your home, and be adequately supported to facilitate proper drainage.
- Check that your contractor is running exhaust and intake pipes next to each other, which will allow both to receive equal wind pressure.
- A condensate pump should be involved if drainage by gravity isn’t an option.
Improve Your Chimney
- Your old furnace may have been vented through your chimney, but that won’t be necessary with a condensing gas furnace installation. If your water heater is still vented through the chimney, improvements may be necessary to protect its integrity.
- The gases from your water heater may not contain the right amount of heat to help them rise all the way up and out your chimney, and condensate can build up inside. Prevent damage to the chimney by installing a flexible aluminum liner that downsizes the chimney channel.
For questions about condensing gas furnace installation for your home, please contact us at Ace Hardware Home Services. We’ve served the Dayton area for more than 10 years.
Our goal is to help educate our customers in Dayton, Ohio about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems). For more information about condensing gas furnaces and other HVAC topics, download our free Home Comfort Resource guide.
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