Hi everybody, I have just installed new High Efficiency furnace (Keeprite). In the manual 2 pipes are depicted (Exhaust and intake) running outside of the house. However, the installer has left the intake pipe inside of the basement (the pipe is about 20 inches long above the furnace). He says it's OK to have an intake pipe to suck the air from within the basement. Is it?
Thanks a lot!
Viktor
City Hall may be able to advise. The Ontario housing code was changed about 25 years ago to require outside air for furnace supply. This is usually done by piercing a four-inch hole through the foundation or wall, and fitting an insulated trunk which hangs down to near floor level.
Not really. Because if it sucks in air, that air has to come from outside, and then cold air will be sucked into your house. If you have an extremely tight house, you may even starve the furnace for air, and that is a very bad thing. So insist on putting the intake outside of the house.
Probably not. The point of an intake pipe, instead of just a grill, is that your combustion air doesn't come from the house.
You hired a hack, the efficiency rating specified won`t be met with indoor air since you are pulling in cold makup air. Indoor air pollutants actualy shorten the coils life, your warranty may in fact be void with indoor air. Demand he fix it and stop payment. If he screwed that up who knows what else, he just wanted to save time from drilling a hole. Make sure he has the proper install on the intake -exuast, read your manual.
Yea sure, he is trying to tell you he knows more than the guys who designed the furnace. If you think this guy know more than the engineers who designed the furnace, then go with his easy way out. If however you, like me, believe the guys who spent all those years in college and spent time testing the design might know more than this guy, I suggest you demand that he do the job right.
This thread get me interested. My gas furnace only has one 3" PVC to outside - I think that is the exaust pipe. I wonder if my furnace is taking air from the basement? One of the kids stays in the basement most of time - even sleeps in one of the rooms there. Is it safe there?
Do you have the manual for the furnace? I suggest starting there to determine what is required.
Teah a single exhaust pipe is safe to the occupants BUT
It makes the furnace use pre heated air for combustion, wasting energy. sometimes that indoor air air is contaminated with household chemicals that can cause heat exchangers to rot out...
get the installer to finish the job, he is lazy cold air is more dense and burns better.
You may want to review where the furnace is exhausting. There are a number of ill-knowledged installers who place the exhaust pipe in the wrong location (not recommended to be by any windows, etc...).
JW
Yes, he hired a hack and got exactly what he paid for...........nothing more, nothing less. Thought it was such a great deal and now found out it wasnt. If he wants a second pipe outside he can open his wallet and pay for it. Bubba
Installing the intake pipe so that it takes air from the inside of the house is not unusual and outside venting is often listed as optional in the installation instructions.
Of course, as has been stated, this means that the air intake within the house will create a vacuum and suck cold air into the house, reducing the efficiency of the furnace (though not a great deal).
If the basement where the intake pipe is located is essentially closed off from the heated part of the house, then it is effectively the same as being outside the house anyway.
Wrong junior. That would mean that a 90% eff furnace is located in an outside environment and that cant happen. Condensate water freezes in that instance and the furnace would crack parts and or shut off. Bubba
He should not have to pay more, he paid for a job done right, He should Stop payment till it is done right.
You dont know the actual circumstances and neither do I. Problem is, if you go with the cheapest guy you get a "cheapest" job. He has a furnace an it works. Thats all the cheap installer cares about. Quick in, Quick out and get your money. Thats what you get when you hire the hack. A proper installation and installer would charge a proper fee...............Not a HACK fee. Bubba
Hi, Could be code violation. New furnace needs fresh air from outside just for it's own combustion. This is only logical.
Really. You're saying it's not safe to burn a gas oven to heat a house poorly (less than fully), but it's ok to vent an entire furnace to the inside of the house?
Oh, the new gas furnaces don't make CO, because they are so well made? Can you guarantee that one will always work so well?
btw. what do the installation instructions for the OP's furnace say?
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If you are going to comment on my reply, you should at least read it. You should also read Viktor's original question.
No one is talking about venting an entire furnace inside the house. We are talking about the intake pipe that Viktor's installer chose to leave taking air from the inside. The exhaust pipe was installed to the outside, as it would have to be.
My point was that, though is is more efficient in most situations, installing the intake pipe to the outside of the house is often stated as optional in the installation instructions. There may be code violations, however, in some areas.
(Bubba is right to point out that I was wrong about the furnace's being installed in an unheated area, btw)
If you are going to comment on my reply, you should at least read it. You should also read the original question from Viktor.
No one is talking about venting the entire furnace inside the house. We are referring to the intake pipe that Viktor's installer chose to leave taking air from the inside. The exhaust pipe was installed to the outside, as it would have to be.
My point was that taking air from the outside, thought more efficient in most situations, is often stated as optional in the installation instructions. There may be code violations, however, in some areas for this.
(Bubba is right to point out that I was wrong about the furnace's being installed in an unheated place, byw)
If you are going to suggest I didn't read your post, you should at least quote what I said about it and quote what you had said that you think I didn't read.
Viktor's question had nothing to do with it. I was replying to you. Viktor's question had been more than 2 days earlier, and that's when I read it, but I just saw your reply. I don't know that it limited itself to the contents of Viktor's post.
Previous text restored:>>>Installing the intake pipe so that it takes air from the inside of the
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Apparently you meant "venting" to refer to intake. Every meaning but one in the dictionary associates venting with output. Maybe input is an accepted definition in the trade, but if you knew non-trade uses of the word, you wouldn't assume I didn't read your post.
vent n. 1. A means of escape or release from confinement; an outlet: give vent to one's anger. 2. An opening permitting the escape of fumes, a liquid, a gas, or steam. 3. The small hole at the breech of a gun through which the charge is ignited. 4. Zoology. The excretory opening of the digestive tract in animals such as birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish. 5. Geology. 1. The opening of a volcano in the earth's crust. 2. An opening on the ocean floor that emits hot water and dissolved minerals.
v. tr. 1. To express (one's thoughts or feelings, for example), especially forcefully. 2. To release or discharge (steam, for example) through an opening. 3. To provide with a vent. v. intr. 1. To vent one's feelings or opinions. 2. To be released or discharged through an opening. 3. To rise to the surface of water to breathe. Used of a marine mammal. [This one is neutral, but derives not from verb but from the the vent, the hole on top of whales etc.] vent n. An opening into a cavity or canal, especially one through which contents are discharged.
OK. So you're talking about the intake. No argument with that.
Cheers
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