sump in basement

[beanoil]

Hi everyone,

I'm upgrading my sumpless 30 gal to a 58RR and building my own sump.
I'm considering putting my sump in the basement for numerous reasons
but there's one potential reason not to. The only logical place would
be next to the oil furnace and gas hot water heater. When the furnace
kicks on, you can smell heating oil fumes (slightly). Do I need to be
concerned about these fumes making their way into the sump's water,
with it being only four feet away? If so, I'll just use a smaller
sump in the stand upstairs. Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Grant

[Tobman]

What kind of heating oil is it? Natural gas, propane are very volatile and could get into your water, especially with all the gas exchange that occurs in a sump. Older styles of heating oil are relatively low volatility, like kerosene.

However, if you have enough gas escaping that it will get into your tank or enough that you're smelling it, it is also getting into your breathing space - not a good thing. I would have your gas company check your gas lines and your furnace, they can tell you how much is escaping. They will generally be there immediately if you tell them you smell gas, maybe even for free.

[beanoil]

The hw heater burns natural gas and it has the typical low tech exhaust (not Powervent). But you don't smell any gas in the area, ever. The furnace burns regular heating oil (which is basically just kerosene, I understand), and that's what you smell slightly when it's running. It's not enough to concern me from a safety standpoint--it doesn't seem to be enough to even give you a headache. My concern is with the gas exchange, as you mentioned.