"dave" nospam wrote in message
...

I get a lot of dust in my house. I noticed the front panel on my furnace
is
not even close to air tight. I can see through gaps and holes directly
into
where the blower is (which is directly over the air filter). So the
blower
is sucking in some air from the return line and through the air filter,
but
a lot is coming through the gaps in the panel. Should I somehow seal this
panel better and force all air to come from my air return vent which is
located in the center hallway of the house? I don't understand this
design
of a furnace which takes no care in keeping dirty air from the garage out.

So far as safety is concerned (avoiding risks of
either suffocation or fire) you should consult the
building code for furnaces, available wherever
building permits are issued for your locality.
(Upgrading to meet current fire code norms
is required by insurance firms in some places.)

--
Don Phillipson
Carlsbad Springs
(Ottawa, Canada)