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QUESTION:I have a home with a basement. We had it built in 1999. The HVAC
(gas) sits right next to the gas water heater. This utility room is
around 20' x 8' with a tight door, located in the basement. There
are two cold air returns on the 1st floor.
The HVAC metal ducting that goes into the attic for the cold air
returns has two large holes in it with vents, right beside the gas
water heater. If I remove the grills and cover up these so they
can't get air, the duct work at that location gets sucked in slightly
due to the negative air pressure (I think I'm saying this right.)
I read in a Popular Mechanics that you don't want cold air returns
near the furnace. I know nothing about this stuff. Are these vents
cold air returns? Is this an issue? Should I have these vents closed
off and another cold air return piped to the hallway?
ANSWER: That seems quite odd. If the room is airtight, you should
still have it checked out by someone with knowledge of
proper ventilation. The problem you may have is explained
on the website. It might be solved by simply cutting a
small supply register into the duct coming off the air
handler. If I understood your original post, the furnace
is next to the water heater. It's puzzling why a duct would
be run to the attic for any other reason than make-up air.
If the duct is open to the attic, a powered attic vent could
cause the negative pressure. It's hard to figure out what's
going on with limited information. For your own safety, get
it checked out.
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