# Enclosing boiler room - size / ventilation



## Ron6519 (Mar 28, 2007)

The paperwork that came with the boiler will tell you the clearances needed. You also need to take into consideration the space needed to service the unit. 
For venting, you're planning on leaving the window open all Winter? Does that make any sense? Air intake should be from the interior which can be accomplished by a louvered door or vents in the wall.
Yes, there will be noise through these openings.
You can go for a direct vent boiler with a separate air intake or you can convert to gas(much quieter then oil).
Ron


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## Termite (Apr 13, 2008)

You're talking about the combustion air requirements in the code. The minimum requirement is 50 cubic feet of space in the room for every 1000 btu/h of input rating on the fuel burning appliances that use air from that room in the combustion process. 

So, for instance, a 40,000 btu/h water heater would require a room that is 2000 cubic feet. 

40,000 divided by 1000 = 40
40 x 50 cubic feet required = 2000

If the room isn't that big (an most mechanical rooms/closets aren't), you'll need to ventilate the room to adjacent larger rooms (never bathrooms or sleeping areas), to the ventilated attic, another floor or the outdoors. The code gives a handful of options. Most folks use adjacent rooms so they're not introducing cold air into the mechanical room. Vent openings high and low, or louvered doors do the trick. 

A window should not be considered acceptable for combustion air ventilation. People close windows. 

Best bet is to check with your local code official to make sure you're doing it right.

The hazard in putting fuel burning appliances in small areas is that they're denied adequate air to burn, so they run less efficiently and generate more carbon monoxide in the combustion process.


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