having new furnace installed, current air return is in house in hallway, someone suggested i should have the air return relocated to bring in air from outside of the house, anybody agree, disagree with this?...thx..
2006-09-26 09:20:20 · 7 answers · asked by Anonymous in Home & Garden ➔ Maintenance & Repairs
As an estimator of a large Heating and Cooling contactor in the Seattle area, here is my advise:
Most likely they are talking about "make up air".
In many parts of the country this is required because of homes being built so tight and not breathing properly.
This is controlled by a mechanical timed damper and is perfectly normal.
If you home was built in mid 80's or earlier, than its a good idea. If its older, and your not adding square footage, than it may not be needed.
It is best to ask the local mechanical inspector or your city or county to what they require to see if it is needed in your case.
Good Luck
2006-09-26 17:24:45 · answer #1 · answered by USMC Rando 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Your energy bill would really go sky high! Because you will have to heat up all of that outside air.
If you have a very "tight" house, you could add an outside make up unit that has a heat exchanger to temper the air before it is brought into the house. Only a small percentage of the air is replaced with outside air so the energy drain isn't as great. The heat exchanger warms up the outside air using the inside air that is exhausted when the outside air is brought in.
If you haven't been having a problem with the quality of you inside air, then I would stay with the current method.
2006-09-26 16:32:55 · answer #2 · answered by oil field trash 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
It depends on the configuration of the furance you're having installed. Some obtain their combustion air from outdoors and vent cool exhaust air through similar piping. These furnaces are 90+ efficienct and you should not buy anything less. C/A returns are different than make up or combustion air though.
2006-09-26 17:49:08 · answer #3 · answered by Handy but Perplexed 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I disagree. That would have the furnace heating colder air to comfort your home. Best to have the return in the hall, it will be much more energy efficient that way.
2006-09-26 16:24:56 · answer #4 · answered by Papa 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Check out this link, it kind of depends on the application, if you are trying to expel stale air from the heated area then you would want to add what is called make up air. At the same token you have to exhaust the amount of air you are making up. Check out the diagrams in the link.
http://oikos.com/esb/39/VentOpt.html#aahx
Hope it helps.
2006-09-26 20:42:28 · answer #5 · answered by etcher1 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Your friend is stupid, The reason you have the return inside is to cirrculate and heat the inside air.
2006-09-26 18:16:40 · answer #6 · answered by ric_ozz 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Disagree. you would be bringing in the air that's either cold in the winter or hot in the summer and you unit would be trying to cool or heat against it
2006-09-26 21:54:18 · answer #7 · answered by mr inneed 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋