Greetings, I inspected a home built in 1933 yesterday. Quick question… there was what appeared to be a large (3’x2’x2”) floor return in a hallway closet. In the Crawlspace I found it to be next to the old kitchen chimney with sign that it used to be connected to it. Can anyone give me some insight, I’m trying to get this report out and I keep getting in the weeds looking around on google. I’ll post some pics…
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Obsolete, it is likely an old floor furnace.
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Google old floor furnace design…you will find something that matches what you have here.
Obsolete is the critical statement. I have seen many of these, none in operation. So, if it works…congrats you have found a unicorn.
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Pretty common in older houses in the Portland area - as others have said it’s an abandoned furnace that would just blast heat out, usually in the hallway right outside the bedrooms. I always explain it to the buyers that it was like the caveman sitting around a fire and they just put up walls and a roof. It wasn’t until later that someone had the bright idea of routing heat to each room.
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Thanks for the replies! It’s always cool to see some history in these old homes!