Utility room is in basement, is 9x10, and has full ceiling exposed to floor joists and underside of the stairwell also adjoins this room. Since the adjoining room has now been finished, the subject of ventilation for the gas furnace and water heater has come up. There is one 8x16 inch louvered vent under stairwell at bottom of wall to another living area; since the entire ceiling of the utility room is open/exposed to the entire floor joist area of the house, is further ventilation necessary? Thanks
Whether or not it is required will depend on your local code, but providing combustion air for fuel burning appliances is always a good idea. Fire needs air, newer homes may be built tighter making it more difficult for air to get into the house. Older homes may allow air in through windows and doors and building materials, which could be felt as drafts.
For an experienced contractor, it is a simple and relatively inexpensive matter to bring additional, functional ventilation/make up air/fresh air venting into a home of any age.
Thanks for your reply; I would do that but that would be drawing intake air from a room to be used as a bedroom, which is a no-no here and many places. Looks like we will use the wall under the stairwell; on the other side of that is a living room/den. Just really didn’t want another louvered vent on that wall but oh well… Just seems silly when the entire utility room has not ceiling.