Is this safe?

[industrialauk]

I am a bit short on storage space in my garage and elsewhere and need to store packing material for my TV unit. Is keeping styrofoam next to the gas furnace installed in the attic safe? I realize I am using the word 'safe' loosely. Honestly, I am a noob and can't depict all hazards when things are stored in the attic. My attic has a gas furnace, air ducts & insulation -- it's not meant for storage as far as I can tell. Attached is a pic. The styrofoam is around 1.5 feet away from the furnace.

 

[bud16415]

I would say safe enough. People tend to put one thing in and then another and pretty soon it is crammed full and that’s not safe.



I have a walk up attic and we keep some of this stuff up there. We have a front projection media room and I keep the box for the projector as if it ever needed service it has to be mailed in. We have a couple flat panel TVs and I keep the box and packaging for about a month and then I pitch it. IMO the likelihood of needing it is slim unless you are planning to move often.

Your post reminds me I have to do another purge basement, garage and spare room. Just not today as we got a foot of snow. Lol.

 

[industrialauk]

You are right, it's tempting to pile more things one you find new "unused" space. Running out of storage space is a good forcing factor to limit accumulation of stuff.

 

[Jeff Handy]

Maybe bind it all together loosely with blue painters tape, so that a strong draft can’t blow a piece over right next to the furnace.

 

[industrialauk]

Jeff, thats a good idea. Thanks for the tip.

I do have some space on the other end of the attic. It's filled with insulation, which looks like cotton (the house was built in 1992). If I put the styrofoam on top of that insulation, I get further away from the furnace, but I wonder if I am inviting a different kind of hazard.

 

[Jeff Handy]

Putting the foam near the eaves can cause it to get moldy.

 

[billshack]

I would not put the foam so close , there is a gas code and if some of the foam got blown next to the unit and started a fire, well your insurance would not pay because you violated the gas code .

 

[industrialauk]

Oh interesting, @billshack what do you mean by foam getting blown to the unit and starting a fire? Getting blown close due to a strong draft like Jeff said? What would trigger a fire?

 

[Jeff Handy]

More than once, I have had friends, family, customers who have had ignition problems with a furnace.
The furnace tries to light, the sparker starts tick tick ticking, the gas valve comes on, but ignition is delayed for a few seconds, sometimes ten seconds or more.
Then it finally catches, and a brief burst of fire actually comes roaring out of the furnace.
A friend of mine lost his eyebrows and singed his hairline that way, he heard it ticking, bent down to look for flame, and got roasted.

 

[billshack]

what jeff handy said it is called a roll out.

 

[industrialauk]

Thanks billshack & Jeff. Its fair to conclude that the risk outweighs reward in this case. I am going to move the foam out.