Thanks, Vic. I do have a level, but it's always looked so level I
never checked. This week it's been under 6 inches of snow so I can't
check now.

On Mon, 31 Jan 2011 00:41:21 -0800 (PST), wrote:

On Jan 30, 7:51*pm, mm wrote:

So there is little or no down-side to screwing it down? * If there is
no reason not to do it, I think I will put one or two screws in.
Otherwise I'll feel stupid when the next one moves too.

I've seen install instructions for securing them where required for
hurricane protection.

Great. No hurricanes here but I'll do something to keep it from
moving.

I never paid any attention to exactly how
though, but since it's apparently required by code in some areas
and installations, you would think they would all have a means of
doing so.
....
4) It also says in the url above:

["If the uncased coil is to be installed on top of a gas furnace,
allow enough space between the top to the furnace and the
bottom of the plastic coil drain pan to have a free flow of air.]

"A minimum of 2.0" distance from the top of the furnace and
the bottom of the coil pan is required. *The coil should be installed
with the line set and drain openings to the front of the
furnace."

Does this bit aobut the openings refer only to gas?

That's the letter of what they wrote.



*I don't think so.
For oil, is it necessary to have the openings at the front, and why?

Unless it says otherwise, it sounds like it only applies to gas. Oil
furnaces may have different air flow or design characteristics so
that it doesn't matter. But who knows.... You could call the
manufacturer, but most of them won't answer install questions
from DIY. If you buy an encased coil, this no longer matters.

Well, I'll try, and I'll make a greater effort to see neighbors' new
furnaces.

They're at the side now and work much better there afaic.

I still don;t see the need to try to put it together differently than
the normal installation.

Maybe this is why I'm still single. Maybe an objective opinion would
be that I'm increcredibly picky, but it always seems reasonable to me.
:=)

If you have a serious clearance problem
then it's one thing. But all I'm hearing so far is the furnace vent
and AC condensate drain lines. Every furnace has those issues
and they appear to be designed to go together easily, with
clearance, etc as built, with the AC lines coming off the front.


My old coils came out the side too. *New ones with the coils already
encased come out the front, at least in the ones I've seen. * That

Do you think that means there is room from a bigger coil that way? *I
noticed that the coils they have for sale come with adapter plates, to
seal the outer perimeter at the bottom in case the coil case is wider
than the furnace. * Not pretty but maybe I could use that to point the
openings sideways

What you're describing is a transition kit, or adaptor if you will,
for use
when you use an encased coil that is larger than the furnace. They
are
used in cases where you need more AC than heat. You could probably

Good to know.

use a similar scheme to allow you to mount it rotated 90 deg. But be
aware that there are restrictions on how gradually you have to taper
the transition so as to maintain smooth airflow. Depending on your
height limitations, that could be a problem.

Height is a problem. That's a big reason why I can only install the
smallest simplest non-electric humidifier.

There is an I-beam over part of the furnace that requires a shift
several inches to the right as the duct goes up. That piece starts
about 10 inches above the coil.

But it sounds like a lot of work for a reason I'm not clear on. The
furnaces are built to go together easily for most applicationsl. And
today, that seems to be with the AC lines and drains coming out the
front. I don't see why that should present such a problem. Many
furnaces also allow the condensate drain lines for the furnace,
electric, or gas to be reversed to the other side of the unit too.

That would help. I'll look into that.

Should be enough flexibility there to plumb the thing without having
to rotate the coils 90deg.

I guess part of this is wanting to feel the installation will be
comparitively quick and easy, since I'm still a little scared of doing
most of it myself. I can probably buy my way out of any problems by
paying the guy who will be finishing it to do more, but that's no
comfort now.

I won't be doing this until April or May, but I'll try to let you know
how this part and the rest of it goes then.
..........

I thought all there would be by now are N coils but both of these are
still A-coils. *

OTOH, the website showed 6 photos of the Goodman cased coil, including
from above and below, and it seemed like there was a double wall. *But
surely they wouldn't call it an access panel if the insulation and
second wall didn't come out too.

I don't know about that. I looked at mine and it has a panel that
appears
to come off. But, right behind that is that second panel you talk
about.
And on the Rheem, from looking at it, it did not appear that the inner
panel came off.

ROTFLOL. You're right. The access panel might just give "access" to
another panel. I'm glad you warned me so I don't get surprised when I
get it. IIRC, the first model of the Apollo space ship was like
that, and that's why they only circled the moon instead of landing.

It appeared to be attached to and part of the coils.
I'd look at the documentation for the coils and see if it says
anything
about how the access panel, cleaning, etc. Or google for cleaning...

I'll do that.

And even if that panel came off, if you have dust stuck to the coils
it's not clear to me how well you could clean it with access that is
still going to be very limited.

A vacuum cleaner with the round bristly attachment?

What do people do now when the drain is clogged? If they just go in
through the drain hole, then my drain was never clogged.



....
Good to here. *BTW, I recently learned that with an oil furnace one
needs a metal pan or a high-temp plastic pan. *The Goodman cased coils
come with a high temp pan it seems (I will verify that) but the Aspen
(which they imply is lower cost ("non-name brand") even though the
costs are about the same.), the Aspen don't have that and you have to
remember to buy a high-temp pan, (or, conceivably, if they're hard to
replace in a cased coil, you just can't use Aspen).

Seems odd they would include an overflow drain pan that has to go
under the
whole furnace with the coils. Are you sure what you're reading isn't
talking about the regular drain pans that are part of every coil?

Yes, the regular drain pan. What I meant here was that there was a
pan right under the coil included in the cased coil. With Goodman it
seems they are all high-temp. With Aspen, it seems none of them are.
Elsewhere on a different subpate it said to buy a high-temp pan if you
use oil, to replace the pan that is included in a cased coil.

It made no exception for Goodman, but maybe it is better for them to
be safe than for me to be sorry. In case Goodman would change the kind
of pan it included and they didn't find this one isolated paragraph
and change it.

Thanks again.