Elenkao, yes you can go direct vent and its pretty common these days. You must be talking oil fired. What will go in will be either a Tjerlund or a Fields Controls product. Those are the 2 better known companies that make direct vent products and if you do a Google for either one you'll have a better idea of what you'll be getting. don't let somebody hack up your fireplace, its not necessary. I don't understand the thing about going through a basement window though. Thats hack work. You have to terminate above the highest expected snow line also.

I don't see why you couldn't pump condensate all the way to the laundry sink. Our 87% boiler is a condensing type. The boiler has a condensate drain coming out of the bottom of the flue. This drain is routed to a condensate pump which hoists the water up and over my water heater, then gradually down to the washing machine drain. The boiler has been producing hot water of around 120°F lately (around 32°F outdoors). This low temperature means a lot of condensate from the flue, so the pump has been busy. I never hear the pump run, though. As far as vent noises go, I would DEFINITELY have the air intake plumbed to the outdoors if I could do my install all over again. The air intake makes a considerable "whoosh" noise while it's running. (Of course, drawing air into the house.) The blower fan does have a slight vibration that I can hear in my kitchen, which is just on the opposite side of the wall from the boiler. In the case of a boiler, I can connect an indirect-fired domestic water heater that the boiler services. This means one unit does two jobs by effectively making an additional zone. I don't know if this can be done economically with forced air heat. I can't hear any noise from my boiler when I'm outside. Then again, I don't have it vented through the wall.

"The closet the gas furnace is in, is not ventilated. The closet does not have a roof, but opens up into the attic. He does not think there is enough fresh air making it down to the furnace, and he does not think the fumes from the furnace are making it up into the attic." the closet is actually very well vented if it is open to the attic at the ceiling (roof?) of the closet. "He has instructed us to nail some gutter pipe (gutter pipe, because it is square, and will fit the limited space better than round pipe, but to mee gutter pipe seems awfully small diameter) into the closet to increase circulation. One peice going 12 inches into the attic, and another peice 12 inches off the floor. To me this seems awfully suspicious, I cant see how this will work, and I'm scared." I usually install a ceiling in gas furnace closets using ductboard (doesnt burn) from inside the attic. Usually a 5 or 6" vent pipe from inside attic..12" above insulation with a bug screen. the pipe goes thru ductboard ceiling to where the air intake of the gas furnace is located. I've started putting an inline manual damper..open when furnace is in use..closed for cooling season. "He also noticed that someone has stapled fibergalss insulation to the inside of the closet door, and we should remove that. That the entire door needs to be replaced with a very tight fitting door." Someone was trying to overcome the temp transfer from top of heating closet being open to attic. Bat insulation is not a good idea..but ductboard works well. and door should be weatherstripped. while the venting will supply the air needed for the furnace, it won't vent fumes. there shouldn't be any fumes if furnace is operating properly..there are vent pipes attached to the equipment that vent out of the roof. as for the smell...it could have been a sealant that he used or many things. I would call the original person who did the install and tell him your concerns. Granted there are better materials to use but it sounds like he/she was on the right track. better to close in ceiling and make it air tight and bring fresh air to the furnace than to leave the ceiling open to the attic. just my experience here in hot humid La. it may vary if your area is different. best of luck.

Well the latest quote is in and it's the best so far. It's for two America Standard Freedom 95, two stage, variable speed furnaces. A 60k BTU system for the rental unit ( it gets a $600 rebate after installation) and a 100kBTU unit ($300 rebate) for the larger upstairs apartment. The quotes include everything; permits, thermostats, hard wired CO detectors, and removal of old oil tanks. 60k BTU cost $5500 100k BTU cost $5900 I will get $900 in rebates so the total cost for the install is $10500 I talked to the contractor as I believed that the units were oversized. The furnaces are purchased from the gas supplier and are the ones approved for rebates. He said a single stage 40k BTU unit will be fine for the rental apartment, but American Standard does not make a 40k BTU two stage unit and the 60k BTU unit will cost the same after the $600 rebate and it will be quieter, cheaper to run and will keep the tenants a bit more comfortable. I could get a 40k BTU Carrier Performance 96, there's a $300k rebate on that. He says an 80k BTU unit would be ok for the upstairs two floor apartment as far as heating goes, but from experience he feels that the larger fan capacity of the 100 kBTU unit is needed to get the air up from the basement to the top floor.