Originally Posted By: mkober This post was automatically imported from our archived forum.
Did an inspection last week where I came across a gas f.a. furnace that had the appearance of being installed upside-down (no, I wasn’t on illegal substances). It was a newer unit, but the external name plate had been removed from the front–could have been a Heil or Lennox. There were several decals on the sides that were upside-down, and the two front service panels had been duct-taped to the sides to keep them from falling to the floor. The air filter was duct-taped to the (now) top of the unit, drawing return air from the entire room (the unit sat on top of a bump-out utility room/bathroom, in the vaulted ceiling space of the master bedroom). Heated air came out the (now) bottom into two painted steel stove pipes for distribution into the rooms. I’ve looked at a few counter-flow furnaces and more than a few updraft furnaces, but never one like this. So my question is: Is it possible for a heat exchanger to function upside-down? My money would be on “absolutely not,” but the unit was working (if only marginally–had a frozen toilet supply line the day before, just 12 feet away from the heated air outlet. Discretion being the better part of valor, I chose not to remove the service panels to monitor the inner workings (duct tape very dry, brittle), and of course emphasized in my inspection report the importance of having a qualified heating technician check the thing out. By this point in the inspection, I had already seen so many Rube Goldberg applications in the house (other furnace’s ductwork blocked basement access, etc.) that I was already “jaded.” .
Originally Posted By: dvalley This post was automatically imported from our archived forum.
Michael,
You need to post a pic for us, because I've never seen an upside down furnace. If what you are explaining to us is actually upside down (sounds too funky to me) and is taking air from the same room as the furnace, you have issues.
Originally Posted By: mkober This post was automatically imported from our archived forum.
Thanx for the info, guys. Before posting, I did a search on “upside-down furnaces,” but nothing showed up. I spent a half-hour on the phone today with the client discussing this and several dozen other issues regarding the property. Neither furnace has a safety switch, copper water supply lines “repaired” by splicing in runs of flexible stainless, woodstove 10" from a very combustible (T-111) wall, etc, etc. His ammunition stockpile for renegotiating the purchase price grew by leaps and bounds at the expense of my getting blacklisted by another realtor as a potential deal-killer. “Dem’s da breaks.” I know there are at least $50,000 worth of repair items (“It’s OK, we’re going to buy the place no matter what”), so I feel good in my client knowing the paltry sum he spent on my inspection was worth every penny. Satisfaction like that is just another thing I like about this job!