Parts of tank in furnace room

[Jeff]

I am going to upgrade my 120 gal system to a 180 gal + refugium/sump etc and put it in my basement one I renovate. It would be handy to store my RO unit along with a spare water bin, perhaps my kalk reactor, perhaps my protein skimmer, and perhaps my refugium in my furnace room. There is plenty of room, and even nicer, there is a drain in case of any issues (plus makes changing water super easy). Can anyone fore-see any problems with doing this? As with any furnace room there is the slight odour of gas permeating the air, and this is what bothers me. Gas diffusion into water can happen, but has anyone heard yes or no on doing something like I want to? Being able to make use of that room would be HUGE.

Thanks

[pocilipora]

Can you vent in some fresh air?

[Silverfish]

It should be fine to have a sump or refugium in your furnace room.
If the gas furnace was installed to code, it will have a fresh air intake hood bringing air into your duct system, or into the area that your furnace is in.
The F.A.I. hood should be at least a 4" , but it may be a 5". (4" is code for most residential furnaces)
If you can, I would add another 4 or 5" fresh air and duct it into the room, you can never have too much. [img]smile.gif[/img]
Have a look around the outside of your house and see if there is a hood with a screen in it (not one with a flapper, it will be for your dryer or range hood). If there is a screened one, you should be fine.

[Jack Rainville]

Originally posted by Jeff:
As with any furnace room there is the slight odour of gas permeating the air, and this is what bothers me.

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Yikes! I've NEVER had a furnace room with any smell of gas whatsoever. If I were you, I'd be more concerned with the unexpected and violent relocation of my house into the next neighborhood over. :eek:

[Achilles]

While I do agree with the above to posts, keep in mind that you cannot smell natural gas. So if you are smelling gas there is probably something else laying around!

Your house would have already blown because you have a pilot light going 24/7 on your furnace.

Just my 0.02

Cheers!

[AJ_77]

In the interests of safety:

"Natural gas is colourless, non-toxic and odourless, although an odourant is added as the gas is fed into the distribution system. Known as mercaptan, this odourant is an important safety measure because it provides a distinct smell (much like the smell of rotten eggs) in the event of a gas leak. However, natural gas is lighter than air and rapidly dissipates into the air when it is released."

You would have to have a significant leak for enough to gather into concentrations high enough for ignition by the pilot. But it doesn't take much to smell it.

AJ

[Jeff]

I'm not too worried. It smells like any other furnace room I've ever been in or owned.

I am simply wondering about storing tank change water and/or active parts of the tank in there.

[AJ_77]

I'm in agreement with Jack - get the gas company in there before you do anything else.

AJ