OK planing again, and I have a situation, please help!

[Chemical_Whore]

I have the new house and all that, and I wanna put the tank in, but the greatest place to put it, has the air intake (one of two) for the central air under it. My question is, will the way it is placed work and will it support it correctly, or should I cut the grate (I have to any ways to get the intake and output to the sump that will be in the basement) in half and just board it up, or not even put it there?? (the other intake is only a square foot intake on the other side of the room) . and this there anything else I should be worried about?

 

[trido]

Your furnace air intakes are engineered to allow X amount of air for a certain size of furnace. If you block one of your two intakes the furnace will still work but most likely wont last as long. It may not work as well either.
Regarding the framing around the furnace intake. I would recomend getting a contractor to look at it and see how it is framed to accomodate the ducting. Quite often, depending on the age of the house, furnace ducts are cut in where ever is easiest for the guy doing the work and no addititional framing is added where it could be needed. If you cut the vent cover, you will then need to cut the ducting and repair the hole in it. Unless you are a DIYer, I would recommend leaving the furnace alone and put your tank somewhere else. Ducting can be a PITA to alter and can potentially be harmful to your health (asbestos). Trust me I know. :wink:

 

[Chemical_Whore]

Well there is already pipes running thru the duct work (water pipes) and I had a guy come out and cant figure why he made it so big with the second intake on the system, so I am good on that, at least I hope I am the trane guy was really confused and said we had more then enough flow with that covered ( I admit I didnt ask him for fear of hearing NO that if I framed half of it in). I will have a contractor come over to see what he thinks about it. Any one else think of anything? And as far as moving it, its there or no where, GF said no to any other place. Might have to build a custom tank

 

[Anonymous]

You need the extra air intake. Don't block it off, it just wastes money.

You can however duct it through your stand so you still get the proper flow through the heating system.

Also, I agree that normally they just cut through things for heating and don't make sure the framing is good enough. I would get that checked out or inspect it yourself to see if they cut any floor joists. That should be easy enough if you can get under the floor.

 

[Anonymous]

OH, if its for AC you definitely need the extra intake. My house is lacking on returns and I am supposed to add another.

Our AC doesn't work as well when we place the couch in front of the return...

 

[tazdevil]

You coulde move the intake, that would be tough if your basement is closed up though.

 

[Chemical_Whore]

I like the idea of venting thru the bottom, and to my surprise today when I was in the basement I noticed they did put floor joists in around the thing, on all sides. but I will vent it and I will put floor jacks in the base ment and all looks good (except getting the tank level, but that is the next problem)

 

[tazdevil]

Something about venting through the bottom of the tank stand scares me. I would worry about the effect of leaks /spills etc. on the system, especially if the water tracks down to the furnace. I would at least seal all joints with silicone or some sealant to reduce the amount of leak/spillage water from getting into your system.