That is the standard for this area. At the very least I think
the door to the furnace closet needs weatherstripping.
You should also have two pipes for combustion air. One
a foot long near the missing ceiling and another from the
ceiling that ends a foot from the floor. They seem totally
redundant to me but are code required!

HTH
Chris

In my area a ceiling in the closet is required.It keeps the insulation from falling in the closet and is also a fire barrier.Installing 2 fresh air pipes would be kinda dumb if there is no ceiling.We are required to have 2 one high and one low with the sealed closet .

When I see a missing ceiling, I just figure that the installer screwed the customer. The purpose of the ceiling is to contain the unit within the consditioned space and not the open attic. This requires a sealed door, along with the high low vents in new construction. Many FHA inspectors expect to see this in all homes??

My guess is that it is (or was) code compliant at the time of
construction. My home and others I've seen in Austin were
certainty inspected. This city is know for tough code enforcement
so it was typical in this area. Hopefully the code has since changed.

What about the systems return? Is it ducted or does it just pull from that space. That could be why the ceiling is open. Thats a very hack way of doing an installation plus being dangerous, but maybe thats what they did.

That's not done here. The (single) return is at the bottom of the
furnace typically in a central hallway Very noisy!

From what I can see, there's a large (~8in) diameter metal duct tube that hangs down into the space from the attic that terminates about a foot from the bottom of the unit. Also, the return air (~2ft x 3ft) comes thru the wall from the living room at floor level, allowing air into the underside of the unit.
Seems like I could cover the huge ceiling opening and still have fresh air coming in thru the large duct and the return air vent.

Someone was too lazy to do the job right. As far as I know NOWHERE in Texas is a closet allowed to be open to the attic. If Austin does this, they are not adhearing to Texas HVAC code, or have modified the code for Austin alone. It will not fly in N. Texas or Dallas and surrounding cities. Boiler code is a state code and not a municipal code, but Austin does things differently.

I had Strand Brothers come by. They were excellent to deal with. Their sticker is on the unit, so I called.
The guy came by and confirmed what y'all posted above about having 2 6in duct tubes, one high, one low. One is in place, the other I may have put in, so I can close in the ceiling so no more insulation falls in.
He said that since the door has a good gasket seal and since the small closet is insulated, I won't notice any difference in the a/c bill if I close in the ceiling.
I may do it anyways, just for aesthetics.
Thanks for your help here.
Mason

My home built in 1980 had the open ceiling in the furnace closet. I decided to close it up and one day when I had service the guy said I was lucky to be alive, and he busted the ceiling out. Hot air from the attic came right down into the closet, and of coures into the house.

He busted the ceiling out, and you just stood there and let him do it? What's up with that?

Why were you "lucky to be alive"? Is having a ceiling in there hazardous or something?

Yes, please fill us in. Did your guy tell you something other than the above?

Very old post, but that's what Google searches come up with. My daughter's condo has ac in closet, open ceiling, weatherstripped door. One 6" exhaust pipe from gas furnace. Ceiling would be a pain too seal off. I'm mostly concerned about mice and squirrels. Shoving some chicken wire up in the openings is probably best bet.

Not only that, but the condo is a duplex and attic between the 2 units is open!