Your heating unit is forced air and it is 70 years already can you still use it safely?

Answer 1

Safety is a relative term on a unit this age. It was never designed with many (if any) safeties whether it be for the pilot valve to close if the pilot goes out, flame sense to know whether the main burner is lit or if its just dumping raw gas, to not run if the flue is plugged, most at best have a safety built into the control that operates the fan that shuts off if over temperature. Is it safe? It is as safe as it was when it was built, as long as its been serviced recently, and you should ALWAYS have a couple carbon monoxide detectors located near the furnace and in the living space. But is it safe compared to a even remotely modern furnace, say from 70's up? Not by a long shot. The biggest and most important safety as furnaces aged, was the addition of a safety shut off if the pilot shut off, preventing main burner operation. If your gas valve is original, it is not built in to the gas valve. And only modified systems ever had the add on of a standalone pilot safety valve. Systems of this age, I have to say, I have routinely walked away from. A furnace without these safeties installed, in even the most basic forms, are a liability to our company, and my conscience because a perfectly serviced unit of this age can still kill someone, especially when no protections are present on that unit.