Gravity Furnaces

Dear Tim,
I manage a House that has the original coal burning monster gravity furnace. At some point it was converted to burn natural gas which it feasts on with gusto. The heater is simply ineffectual when the burners are adjusted too low. What I want to know is, is it still necessary to have an exhaust duct to draw impurities (and a lot of heat)away from the air going into the House, or is the gas we burn today cleaner, making the exhaust duct obsolete/unnecessary?

Heather,
If you disconnect the exhaust duct, you will be dead in about an hour or less from a gusto-sized dose of carbon monoxide. Your mission, should you wish to accept it, is to replace that beast with a high-efficiency unit. You will be amazed at how you will nearly cut your gas bill by half.

Not all Asbestos is cancerogenic. Short strands cheap asbestos which is used in North America is causing cancer, long strands Russian and Asian asbestos is totally safe and is proven not to cause any cancer.

Good article.

I think, perhaps, you underestimate the difficulty of moving ducts - especially to the 2nd floor.

I have a gravity heat furnace in my house. Only problem I have with it is its dry heat. Is there any way to add moisture in the air inexpensively.