Garn/storage tank next to house

[dan94]

Does anyone see any problems with putting a Garn type unit or a storage tank right next to the house? I am thinking of burying something like a garn on the side of my walkoutconcrete basement foundation. Or maybe a storage tank next to the concrete foundation. Has anyone heard of this being done? If you do not need a chimney, why do most people put the unit away from the house.

Thanks for any input.

 

[sdrobertson]

Does anyone see any problems with putting a Garn type unit or a storage tank right next to the house? I am thinking of burying something like a garn on the side of my walkoutconcrete basement foundation. Or maybe a storage tank next to the concrete foundation. Has anyone heard of this being done? If you do not need a chimney, why do most people put the unit away from the house.

If your thinking of making a "room" off the walkout basement I don't see a problem except you would still have to deal with where you want the exhaust to leave the boiler. If your talking about direct burying the garn in the ground, I would advise it as you would have to deal with any possible water getting in the insulation plus you have to have a way to get to all the fittings in the back of the unit. Most people place them in a building so that the insulation issue is allot easier and the boiler likes dry wood so it's easier to build the building a little larger to hold some wood storage.

 

[heaterman]

Does anyone see any problems with putting a Garn type unit or a storage tank right next to the house? I am thinking of burying something like a garn on the side of my walkoutconcrete basement foundation. Or maybe a storage tank next to the concrete foundation. Has anyone heard of this being done? If you do not need a chimney, why do most people put the unit away from the house.

Thanks for any input.

Location is just a matter of choice really. The garn is rated for indoor use and has to be in some type of shelter from weather. Usually folks have an existing out building that is put to that use. As far as locating it adjacent to the house there's really no problem with that as far as clearances are concerned. IIRC 6" to combustible material is all that's called for. I would not put it underground in any circumstance. We've done a couple that are right next to the basement at basement floor level. I would not put one right next to the basement wall if you had a situation where the grade level was above the basement floor without some engineering precautions. Remember that the smallest Garn weighs about 8 tons loaded with water.

 

[Swamp Yankee]

When placing a Garn (or any other heavy object) next to a foundation or basement wall consider the 'surcharge' load. The install manual cautions against placing the garn right up against a basement wall due to the loading on the wall. From the install manual: "If unit is located within 10 feet of an 8 foot deep basement wall, this wall will need to be reinforced in order to prevent collapse of wall due to total weight of Garn plus water. Check with local code official if you have any questions concerning proper placement of the unit".

When installing ours I had a PE structural eng do a surcharge loading calculation to make sure it would not be an issue (ours is a 3' deep foundation... but I'm paranoid when I read statements like that in a manual).