Hi all,
Need some advice. I live in the southwest area(El Paso) and have turned my gas fired furnace on. I cool my house with and evaporative cooler located on the roof. When I shut down the cooler and fire up the heater I have to open/close a flapper vent located above the furnace. My question is: Is this vent suppose to be open or closed during furnace operations?
TIA
if this is a flue to the chimney to let out the furnace's hot combustion byproducts of gas burning , it must be open. otherwise the furnace will overheat and shut itself off.
In the summer, you would want the air from the evaporative cooler going to the ducts, but not into the furnace. So sometimes there is a way to keep the evaporative air from coming "down" and going into the furnace.
In the winter, you would want the air from the furnace going to the ducts, but not up and to the outside via the evaporative cooler. So you would want to close off the duct from the evaporative cooler to your house ducts.
So see where exactly this open/close damper is located. Also see if there is another on the roof. So you might have...
-Evaporative cooler on roof-
-Damper- (open in summer, closed in winter)
-Ducts and house vents-
-Damper- (open in winter, closed in summer)
-Furnace-
A lot of older homes with the cookie cutter sheet do not have dampers at the cooler base. Bill you should check for a automatic damper just below the cooler. If you do not have one. Remove the cookie sheet and turn on the furnace. Wait 5 minutes and while it is operating go to the roof and remove one of the cooler pads. If you feel heat, it is time to add a auto damper to the system.
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