New home: Moving the furnace?

[bobafixed]

Hi everyone,

We're about to pull the trigger on building a new home, however we have a serious problem with the furnace in the basement.

The design of the house has the furnace and hot water tank located right in the middle of the basement and we were wondering if its possible to relocate it off to the side? We're not trying to move it more than 5 or 6 feet, but it would make a huge difference for future basement development plans.

The sales guy said it would be impossible. We've asked around and the general impression we've gotten is that it's doable. Is the sales guy feeding us a line?

[ercchry]

the only reason that i could see it being "impossible" in the eyes of the sales guy is that the builder has one set of plans for all homes built and the only changes you get to make are that of the finishings... this is the case with the more cookie cutter new homes.

[captain134]

I don't see why you couldn't it will take a little more duct work and vent piping. The only problem I can think of would be that maybe the vent has to be straight up through the house with out any bends but I don't see why that would be. I think the sales guy is feeding you some bull.

[Tik-Tok]

Totally possible, but you're going to pay for it (if the builder won't do it, a contractor surely will after the house is finished)

[bobafixed]

His only reasoning was that it would drastically effect the efficiency of the furnace and would result in certain rooms being colder than others. I've been in plenty of older homes that have the furnace in a small corner and no heating issues to speak of.

Guess I'll push a bit harder to have it moved, thanks guys

[quazimoto]

It all depends on the type of furnace they are installing in your home. If they are installing a mid efficiency level furnace they still have the ventillation for the furnace exhaust going up through the roof where as high efficiency furnaces out through the side of the foundation.

If they are using a mid efficiency furnace it would be more reasonable since they need a specific location to vent the furnace. Changing the duct work in the basement is inexpensive and overall depending on how they work the size of the ducts it shouldn't effect the heating of the home that much overall.

[sputnik]

Originally posted by captain134
I don't see why you couldn't it will take a little more duct work and vent piping. The only problem I can think of would be that maybe the vent has to be straight up through the house with out any bends but I don't see why that would be. I think the sales guy is feeding you some bull.

High efficiency furnaces vent out the side of the house.

[topmade]

We built with Shane and has no problems moving the furnace. The only thing effected is efficiency that is barely noticable in heat and bills.

[mr2mike]

With the ducting. What do you guys suggest? I know the older houses run that tin stuff which is more labour intensive to cut and put in the bend adapters, etc.
The newer stuff I see is the bendable stuff like a exhaust port of a dryer. Anyone have experience with the bendable, easier to work with stuff?

[ExtraSlow]

Ask if you can work in an upgrade to the high efficiency furnace, which would need to be vented out the side wall of the house anyway.

[Masked Bandit]

DO NOT TAKE THIS CRAP! It's a pretty solid guess that your sales guy doesn't know shit about construction. If the furnace is that weak / undersized then you should be upgrading it anyway. If they hold firm on this I strongly suggest you find another builder.

[bobafixed]

Awesome, thanks everyone. This makes me a lot more confident in pushing for them to relocate the furnace

Our home builder is Broadview, not sure if they use high efficiency furnaces as a standard. I'll have to ask them about that.

[mekeni]

it's doable !!

You can even have that for free if you haven't signed anything yet. At this point of time anything is doable.


List of what I got (asked) for free:

Washer and dryer
Garage 2 feet longer and wider (includes driveway)
Skylight
And many small things (lights, switches, cable and tel on every room)

[quazimoto]

washer and dryer are standard with just about every normal builder in Calgary. Most builders right now are most unlikely to give you much for free in terms of a "hard cost". I mean you are easily looking at a $2,000 difference going from mid efficiency to high efficiency and then it really depends if its AC or DC powered fans, etc.

[irs]

Yes moving it is posible. As long it stay's on the side of the beam that they have it designed for.
They are just feeding you a line.
There are no extra costs for it, so do not let them pull that trick.
Good luck!

[bobafixed]

Sadly, I dont believe we get a washer/dryer as standard for our home However, we're getting a bunch of other options that they voluntarily threw in.

Well, it looks like that furnace is getting moved whether the builder likes it or not :P I'll keep you guys updated with the furnace and any other freebies we get!

Cheers

[quazimoto]

once again, not if its a mid efficiency level furnace. please don't tell the OP something that isn't necessarily true. Mid efficiency furnaces will have an exhaust that goes straight up through the home. It has nothing to do with what side of what beam the furnace is on. This is 100% where the exhaust vents to.

Usually it has more to do with how the rest of the home is designed on the main floor and possible second floor. Either way it's something you can get fixed.

[Masked Bandit]

Originally posted by quazimoto
once again, not if its a mid efficiency level furnace. please don't tell the OP something that isn't necessarily true. Mid efficiency furnaces will have an exhaust that goes straight up through the home. It has nothing to do with what side of what beam the furnace is on. This is 100% where the exhaust vents to.

Usually it has more to do with how the rest of the home is designed on the main floor and possible second floor. Either way it's something you can get fixed.

Our last house came with a mid-efficiency furnace that was located along an outside wall?

[Masked Bandit]

Originally posted by bobafixed
Awesome, thanks everyone. This makes me a lot more confident in pushing for them to relocate the furnace

Our home builder is Broadview, not sure if they use high efficiency furnaces as a standard. I'll have to ask them about that.

Some of the best money you can spend on an upgrade is getting rid of a mid efficiency furnace and going to high efficiency.

[brown911]

Upgrade the furnace, and yes the sales guy is feeding you a line. It doesn't matter that the builder has cookie cutter house plans to follow, anything can be changed.