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ransley[_2_] ransley[_2_] is offline
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Default Bricks under the furnace?

On Nov 27, 6:45*am, "HeyBub" wrote:
Ed Pawlowski wrote:
"Ricky" wrote
1) I'm getting a new oil furnace in the basement, and the installer
wants to put a brick under each corner. *?? * Is this something old-
timers do? *Is it a good idea?


Are the bricks to prevent rusting? *There has been water in the
basement on several occasions but it only made it to the furnace when
the furnace itself was leaking,


If you had water before, you'll have water again. *Maybe next week or
next year or next decade. *The bricks buy you a few inches of time. The
also promote good air circulation around it to prevent rusting. In some
cases, it makes it higher, thus easier to service.


But a "few" inches means a LOT of safety. Assume 1,800 sq ft of basement and
6" of support. That's 900 cubic feet of water before the flood hits the
furnace gunwales. That 900 cubic feet is almost 7,000 gallons!

Usual faucet flow is in the neighborhood of 0.5 gallons/minute. For the
above calculations, an open faucet in the basement would take 14,000 minutes
(or almost ten days) before the water level reached the furnace.


Restricted sink faucets with airators are 0.4-.1.5 gpm, my code is
0.50, but piping and unrestricted slop sink facets, outdoor hose, 3-6
pgm is normal. 5 gpm should be considered. On a flood this summer with
sewer backup in maybe 90 minutes I had 4". A smaller basement of 600sq
ft would flood, at 5gpm you could awake the next day to 3000 gallons.