Does High Efficiency Furnace Need Fresh Air Intake

See reference 2 in a sealed combustion system as high efficiency furnaces are designed to be outdoor air is essential since the system does not draw any air from inside of the house.

Does high efficiency furnace need fresh air intake.

One pipe brings combustion air directly into the furnace and mixes it with fuel. A heat recovery ventilator or hrv is an optional device separate from the furnace that works as an air to air heat exchanger. Fresh air intake for high efficiency furnaces. Stick to a regular inspection schedule.

However this does not mean that your home does not need a fresh air intake just because you have a high efficiency furnace. In these types of furnaces the exhaust is vented outside via a pvc pipe. High efficiency furnaces come with two pipes. Unfortunately the fresh air intake you have described is the second type and does not provide direct combustion air to the furnace room as it is directly connected to the return air plenum for.

The other pipe exhausts the combustion gases directly to the outdoors. In cases where this is not done the furnace will starve for air and either shut down as a safety or start running very inefficiently. I am a homeowner in new jersey who recently had a carrier infinity ics modulating gas furnace model 58mvc installed. When a home is well air sealed or tight it may warrant an optional fresh air intake that pulls air from outdoors into the furnace and prevents partial vacuum situations.

If a room is build around the furnace you need to install 2 grills to supply fresh air to the room. Since high efficiency furnaces draw air directly from outside the furnace itself does not require a fresh air intake in order to replace inside air that otherwise would have been drawn from the room the furnace is located in. It was originally installed with the exhaust exiting the side of the house via pvc pipe and the combustion intake drawing air from inside the basement with approx a 1 foot pvc curved elbow that is open on the end. While having a furnace inspection on a regular schedule most professionals recommend at least once a year is important for any heating system it s especially so when you have a high efficiency condensing furnace the reasoning behind this is twofold.

As a result by drawing fresh air from the outside to the furnace you are increasing the overall efficiency of your home because you do not need that volume of air in the house for combustion and you are reducing infiltration into the home because of that.