# Cost difference....



## powrofone (Dec 4, 2005)

When we bought our home it had an old oil burner in a closet in the middle of the living room with no ducts or returns to the rest of the house (slab, 800 sq ft)...which was fine in 1954 when heating was cheap I guess. We have the old furnace replaced with a new one and had supplies added in the rooms through the attic. Just one  20x20 return in the living room wall and I cut dummmy registers in the walls between the rooms and shortened the doors a bit to allow air to move from the rooms. Heres my question:
This little bitty house is dying for storage space...I was thinking of taking my upflow out and replacing it with a horizontal furnace in the attic. 
1. the furnace is loud and we cannot watch tv without cranking the volume up
2. would like to gain the closet where the furnace is now

What is the cost difference between a horizantal and a normal furnace?

Would the return duct to the furnace need to be a 20x20 from the return? (thus removing the furnace but then filling it back up again with the duct work and eliminating any gained space)

If I were to duct in returns in the rooms...Can I use the stud space or does it need to be lined?


----------



## rabadger (Dec 4, 2005)

The cost difference will be in the installation.  Most furnaces are upflow and converted to horizontal on the job.


----------



## glennjanie (Jun 6, 2006)

Hi Pow:
No, you don't have to duct the return air up through the closet. You can put a filter grille in the ceiling. A word of caution though, it will still be noisey but you can cut the noise some by off setting the duct and lining it with duct insulation.
Glenn


----------

