Heat Exchanger?

Although I don’t see them much anymore, it certainly looks like a floor furnace to me. I used to see these a lot from the mid 1970’s till mid 1980’s. Usually on older houses with crawlspaces or low cellars.

If so, as a licensed HVAC tech, past AC factory rep, AAS degree in HVAC and with 35 years as an inspector I would probably use one of the following phrases in my report …

  1. Due to the heating system design, there was limited visibility and restricted access to the heat chamber(s). We were unable to fully view or examine the entire heat exchanger and burn chamber. Verifying the integrity of these components would require intrusive testing by a heating specialist… Due to its age and suspected cracks / unreliable conditions, I recommend that a licensed and competent heating specialist service and verify the correct operation of the heating unit and the full integrity of the heat exchanger.

  2. In my opinion the heat exchanger has cracks and may be unreliable and a safety concern. Have it evaluated and serviced by a licensed and competent heating specialist. Then repair or replace as needed.

**Just my own thoughts BUT there would be NO, I’ll research this and get back to you crap. **

For anyone interested…

My client for this house finally closed. She asked me if I could help her find an HVAC guy so I sent my HVAC colleague to her house. If you remember, there was no gas on at the time of the inspection so I could not test the cracks for leaks. Well the gas was on when the HVAC tech looked at it. He said it was a minor issue. The heat exchanger in the areas of the cracks were triple walled and no leaks were detected. He told my client the unit does not need to be repaired or replaced.