# Attic Furnace



## remodel101 (Feb 8, 2007)

Hi, I am a new member and am glad I found this site. Perhaps someone can help me with a problem that I am having with my furnace.
I live in Michigan and recently purchased a house. A deciding factor in the purchase of the house was that a new furnace had been installed, albeit, the furnace was in the attic. This attic furnace has been a problem. It creates ice dams on the roof and causes it to leak. I have been getting water inside the house because of this issue. The furnace was originally in the utility room and was the heating source for that room. Now that the room is empty of a furnace, it is too cold to utilize in the winter. I have to run an electric heater to keep the room warm if I want to do any type of a project. Worst of all, the furnace (forced air) runs constantly when the weather is cold, even though the thermostat never registers above 64 degrees. For the past few days the weather in Michigan has been frigid with tempertatures 10 - 20 degrees below zero when you factor in the wind chill. In frigid weather the house is extremely cold although the furnace is running, and running, and running and running. A few times I set the thermostat at 60 degrees just to stop the furnace from running. (I was thinking about what my energy bill would look like if the furnace kept running - nonstop.) Doing that proved to be a mistake because it was almost unbearably cold. My November and December heating bills were astronomical, and that was before the recent cold weather moved in! The house is a ranch and is 1,500 sq ft. The original furnace that was in the house was a boiler type.  Central air conditioning has been installed in the house, so that is probably the reason that the furnace was switched to forced air. Why the furnace was placed in the attic is a mystery to me. The attic furnace is horizonal, but I would like to have it moved back to the first floor utility room. Even though the current "new" furnace is low effeciency, I will need to keep it because right now, paying off the high energy bills has taken a priority - not to mention the roof situation. There is not enough room to lay the furnace horizonally in the utility room. Can it be installed vertically. 
The house does not have a basement, but has a crawl space. The duct work for the furnace runs through the attic with the heat vents forcing air downward from the ceiling. The return air register is a whole house fan that is located in a hallway.  Any advice you have would be helpful.
Thank you. 

remodel101


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