I am finishing my basement of my condo, adding a bathroom and bedroom. I plan to build a small room around the furnace and the water heater. What do I need to do to ensure that the burner of the furnace gets a good supply of fresh air? Since people will be spending a lot of time in the basement, do I need to run an air supply line to the outside of the house to prevent a buildup of CO2 or CO?
I would be talking to the condo board AND the city bldg dep't. Besides the combustion air issue, there may be stringent requirements regarding use of the area for sleeping quarters.
The bath will have a host of issues to contend with too.
Contact these people before getting in too deep.
Jim
Below grade basement? You need a means of egress that complies with the building codes. You'd better check on that stuff first.
You need some clearance around the heaters. Check the manufacturer's specifications, they use some common sense in that they must be serviced and eventually replaced. It may or may not need a fresh air supply directly into the heater room, but it is probably a good idea.
A high efficiency furnace will solve your problems. I have seen insulated furnace rooms with large vents to the outside. If you don't have direct access to the outside you could probably do it with powered ducts, but I would leave that to a professional.
There are issues with basement bedrooms, as others have said. Consider a basement den.
Contact a local heating contractor, have them come take a look and ask them these questions.
Around here, almost all condos with basements have daylight basements. Of course, if this is an older building, like converted townhouses or something, that probably wouldn't apply.
aem sends...
The Field controls company makes a variety of products to make up combustion air supplies. Here is a link :
I hope that you are getting permits and inspections for this project. Bringing fresh air into the furnace area is a good idea. I recall reading somewhere how bath fans in basements can pull air down from the chimney for make up air. In New Jersey an egress window is required for bedrooms located in basements.
?In New Jersey an egress window is required for bedrooms
I have a friend whos son sleeps in a windowless bedroom below grade. The father was a fire chief. He is still around and not concerned.
TOTALLY INSANE IF YOU ASK ME!
I hope to god they dont have a fire and her son gets trapped, imagine being told of such a issue repeatedly, then have a family member die?
of course add ingress egress window and its a legit bedroom raising your homes resale value.
Then you add long term Radon exposure to the equation and you have more ways to die a horrible death.
When I built my house in the late 70s the Canadian code already required an outside fresh air intake connected to the cold air return as well as a separate 6 inch air intake duct for the gas furnace.
Not to mention all the horrible spiders that lurk down there.
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