EcoRenovator - View Single Post - Adding a dedicated air intake to my furnace

Daox · 11-18-13, 12:42 PM

I've been wanting to do this for a while now and I think now is as good a time as any to at least start looking into it a bit more. I also haven't seen anyone else do it and I'm wondering why. In any case, my furnace pulls the air for the burner from my basement. While my basement isn't conditioned it does put negative pressure on the house, pulling in cold outside air, since its exhausting air when the furnace is on. Newer furnaces have a dedicated intake so that this does not happen. I would like to modify my own furnace to have its own dedicated air intake.

First off, is there any reason to avoid this? I'm way out of warranty. Would tampering with the furnace cause insurance issues? I'm guessing yes, but I think I'm still willing to give it a shot.

Here is the setup in the basement. Shown here is my old tank water heater. It exhausts into my chimney which is cut off in the attic. I was thinking of connecting the old water heater exhaust duct up to the furnace. It is a 4" corrugated flue pipe and would go up and pull warmer air from the attic (so a very slight efficiency boost there too). Obviously, all the holes in the furnace sheet metal would need to be sealed up. Some aluminum tape would probably make short work of that. The door (which is off the furnace in the picture), would also need a gasket added. Overall though, not a lot of work...

I wonder what kind of efficiency boost I would see out of this? Any ideas? Other Ideas? Comments? Suggestions?

11-18-13, 12:42 PM	#1
Daox Administrator Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Germantown, WI Posts: 5,525 Thanks: 1,162 Thanked 374 Times in 305 Posts	Adding a dedicated air intake to my furnace I've been wanting to do this for a while now and I think now is as good a time as any to at least start looking into it a bit more. I also haven't seen anyone else do it and I'm wondering why. In any case, my furnace pulls the air for the burner from my basement. While my basement isn't conditioned it does put negative pressure on the house, pulling in cold outside air, since its exhausting air when the furnace is on. Newer furnaces have a dedicated intake so that this does not happen. I would like to modify my own furnace to have its own dedicated air intake. First off, is there any reason to avoid this? I'm way out of warranty. Would tampering with the furnace cause insurance issues? I'm guessing yes, but I think I'm still willing to give it a shot. Here is the setup in the basement. Shown here is my old tank water heater. It exhausts into my chimney which is cut off in the attic. I was thinking of connecting the old water heater exhaust duct up to the furnace. It is a 4" corrugated flue pipe and would go up and pull warmer air from the attic (so a very slight efficiency boost there too). Obviously, all the holes in the furnace sheet metal would need to be sealed up. Some aluminum tape would probably make short work of that. The door (which is off the furnace in the picture), would also need a gasket added. Overall though, not a lot of work... I wonder what kind of efficiency boost I would see out of this? Any ideas? Other Ideas? Comments? Suggestions? Attached Images __________________ Current project - To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. & To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.