QUESTION FROM Linda

I moved into my home a year a go and the room that stores the laundry room, boiler furnance and hot water tank are all in the same room in the basement. There use to be a door to this room and it was removed. I would like to replace the door but I donot know if it was removed beacuse of ventilation issues. My question is, if I put a nother door up should it be a door that has vents or should I just leave the door off? There are no windows in this room.

ANSWER FROM HOME-WIZARD

Dear Linda:

You should check with the building inspector for the town that you live in for the specific regulations for your particular town. But I suspect that you will find that a room that contains a boiler in it will need to have a door to close it off from the rest of the house.

And yes, assuming your furnace is burning oil, propane, natural gas, etc., then it needs to "breathe", that is, it needs to have adequate supply of air (oxygen) coming into the area.

Some homes have what is called a "fan-in-a-can", which when the furnace turns on, it brings in air from outside your home. This is much more efficient than bringing air from inside your house, since air from the outside is not air conditioned or heated.

Hope this is helpful.
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