oil furnace

Looking for opinions, I know everybody has one please share
My first thought is oil tank should not be in garage
My second is proximity to the heating unit, which is junk
Third would be the vent in a masonry chimney.
yes I know the lines from the tank are not protected.
I really love the gas cans below the tank.
Thanks

jsw_p1010068.jpg

Bruce;
I assume that tank is gravity fed being on a stand and has a vent on the top. I don’t deal with oil much and don’t know the code but my thinking would be the tank should not be in the garage even though the flammability of oil is very low.

In this state we allow flue pipes to enter masonry chimney’s as long as they are sealed at the entry hole.

Gas cans AHHHHH hope they are empty???

How about bumper curbs and shouldn’t the HWH be 18" off the floor?

The water heater with an “ignition source” should be installed with the “ignition source” 18" off the garage floor.(IRC 2108.6)

That is an electric water heater and generally is regarded to not have an “ignition source”. The IRC does not specifically separate electric from fuel, but does refer only to fuel, while most illustrations I have seen concerning garage locations only refer to “gas/oil” in the description.

David Valley has a good picture like this. Come in, DV…

…and…

**UPC 510.1 **** Water heaters generating a glow, spark or flame capable of igniting flammable vapors may be installed in a garage, provided the pilots, burners or heating elements and switches are at least eighteen 18 inches above the floor level. **

Jae, it think it’s like this keeping two gas cans under the oil tank keeps the combustibles in a concentrated area. So when the car knocks over one of the gas cans and the gas runs over to the water heater, the flame will run back to the area where the combustibles are concentrated thus causing the biggest possible fire. That would also be a good place to keep the old news papers stacked too.

The furnace burner area appears to be 18" above the garage floor, but it should be checked.

As for the oil tank in a garage…

Subsection 8.3.1 of NFPA 31 requires the fill pipe to terminate outside the building in which the tank is installed. Tanks located in garage bays shall be provided with adequate protection from vehicular traffic.

The tank should be placed in an area where it is unlikely to be adversely
affected by normal household activities.

Tanks should be installed on the lowest floor of the building. The exception to this would be if the tank is installed in an attached garage that is not the lowest floor.

The oil supply lines should be protected from mechanical damage.

Inside oil tank(s) shall be located not less than 1.5 m (5 feet) from any fuel-fired appliance.

What scares me, this looks like a setup. Get a home inspection, after amassing a stock pile of flammables in one area, poof, fat insurance check.

Geezzz…

tom