Martin Floor Furnace

[mridgeelk]

This furnace is the first one of this type I have seen. It is likely 44 years old and has had furnace cement applied to it in several locations. I recommended that it be removed or replaced due to age. I could not find any specific warnings or recalls regarding this model, does anybody know of any? Thanks.

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[kurt]

Change the titles of your pics; they don't show up. Remove all spaces, numbers, etc. Just letters, and they'll print.

I'm one of those folks that's never seen a floor furnace; I wanna know what they look like.

[Tom Raymond]

Really? I've never seen one that clean. There is usually a collection of plastic army guys, action figures, or Barbie dolls that have all met a fiery demise stuck to the bottom or the heat exchanger. As a kid, my brothers and I would run for the thing every time it fired up, the blast of hot air was fun to run through until the grate got hot enough to burn our little bare feet.

Tom

[kurt]

Cool. So, that can just sits there in the floor and heat convects upward, right?

How's it vent?

[Kyle Kubs]

Cool. So, that can just sits there in the floor and heat convects upward, right?

How's it vent?

Some of them didn't! [:-bigeyes

Ed, it looks like where all that refractory cement is applied was probably to seal all the cracks/rot/separations in the heat exchanger, it's right where the welds would typically give way.

Those things remind me of Grandma's house in the country in PA. And hers had Army guys too.[:-slaphap

[Kyle Kubs]

Here's a couple pics of the last one I saw, a few years back now, that shows the venting.

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[mridgeelk]

It is vented through 4" B-vent into a CMU chimney.

Originally posted by kurt

Cool. So, that can just sits there in the floor and heat convects upward, right?

How's it vent?

[Tom Raymond]

Both of the units above are very clean installs too. Most of the ones I see end up hacked through the main beam, with out any extra posts, and there are never any doublers on the floor joists.

Tom

[msteger]

I saw something very similar to that gas fired floor furnace (from the OP) a few weeks ago.. was also probably 40+ years old. I turned it on and all the smoke detectors went off, I think, because of dust falling into the unit. I didn't see a tag showing any manufacturer though. Recommended clean/service and full inspection by HVAC. No ductwork in the home, so replacing it with a modern unit may be tough.

[Jim Katen]

I saw something very similar to that gas fired floor furnace (from the OP) a few weeks ago.. was also probably 40+ years old. I turned it on and all the smoke detectors went off, I think, because of dust falling into the unit. I didn't see a tag showing any manufacturer though. Recommended clean/service and full inspection by HVAC. No ductwork in the home, so replacing it with a modern unit may be tough.

Williams still makes floor furnaces that are a direct replacement for most of the older models.

- Jim Katen, Oregon

[msteger]

Thanks Jim. Can most HVAC contractors install these or is it a specialty?

[Jim Katen]

Thanks Jim. Can most HVAC contractors install these or is it a specialty?

I think any competent HVAC contractor *could* install one. Many might not *want* to though.

- Jim Katen, Oregon

[Rob Amaral]

Furnaces like this are not uncommon in post-war cottage set-ups on the shore or the mountain areas or lakes in New England.. Amen on the plastic army soldiers, too! They are less-common in this era as far as 'new' installs.. Kind of go hand-in-hand with messed-up block foundations, weird pier foundations on sides of hills (lakes), flood-zone areas of the coast, etc... .

[Jim Katen]

Furnaces like this are not uncommon in post-war cottage set-ups on the shore or the mountain areas or lakes in New England.. Amen on the plastic army soldiers, too! They are less-common in this era as far as 'new' installs.. Kind of go hand-in-hand with messed-up block foundations, weird pier foundations on sides of hills (lakes), flood-zone areas of the coast, etc... .

I think that floor furnaces are a relic of a time when we, as a nation, were much more thrifty than we are now. In the post-war era, young couples were thrilled with a 900 sf, 2 br cottage that could be realistically (and cheaply) heated with a floor furnace. Now, young couples mortgage their entire future to buy absurdly oversized boxes with granite countertops, stainless steel dishwashers & HVAC systems that are usually twice as big as they need to be.

Damn! I'm starting to sound like my father.

- Jim Katen, Oregon