Is room air okay for my furnace?
 

The furnace went out this weekend. (No problem. Only 15 below zero...
Fahrenheit, mind you... with winds howling over 30 miles per hour.)
Turns out the intake pipe (that leads outside) was clogged. The
technician lifted the pipe out of the socket where it connects to the
furnace and moved it aside an inch or so, allowing the furnace to suck
in air from the room instead. He assured me the furnace can operate
just fine on room air until temperatures warm up outside (i.e. spring,
which is weeks away) and the pipe clears, at which point I can
reconnect it. My question: Is he right? Is room air just fine for
my furnace? If so, then why was it designed to use outside air in the
first place?

I'm also wondering why they put the exhaust pipe right next to the
intake pipe, since it was probably steam from the exhaust pipe that
clogged the intake pipe. Geez, the intake pipe must be sucking in
exhaust all the time! That can't be good! Seems like they should be
separated as much as possible...

RW

Is room air okay for my furnace?
 

On Feb 11, 12:08*pm, "Mark" wrote:
Drawing
combustion air from outside is a good energy savings measure with new
high-efficiency furnaces.

Good to know, thanks!


The exhaust pipe on the other hand should NOT be disconnected in such a
manner, for obvious reasons.

It's sealed to the furnace. Until this incident, I never quite knew
what my builder meant when he said, "You can't get carbon monoxide
poisoning with this furnace, it's sealed.
:)


As for the location of the intake and exhaust pipes, the manufacturer has Have you actually inspected the pipe to confirm your suspicion it is ice that
is blocking it and not something else?

No, the technician did it. He was dressed and I was in layers of
jammies. 15 below, 30mph winds. I'm not going out there myself until
the weather moderates. Maybe next weekend.

Thanks!

Is room air okay for my furnace?
 

On Feb 11, 4:05*pm, MNRebecca wrote:
On Feb 11, 12:08*pm, "Mark" wrote:

Drawing
combustion air from outside is a good energy savings measure with new
high-efficiency furnaces.

Good to know, thanks!



The exhaust pipe on the other hand should NOT be disconnected in such a
manner, for obvious reasons.

It's sealed to the furnace. Until this incident, I never quite knew
what my builder meant when he said, "You can't get carbon monoxide
poisoning with this furnace, it's sealed.
:)

As for the location of the intake and exhaust pipes, the manufacturer has Have you actually inspected the pipe to confirm your suspicion it is ice that
is blocking it and not something else?

No, the technician did it. *He was dressed and I was in layers of
jammies. *15 below, 30mph winds. *I'm not going out there myself until
the weather moderates. *Maybe next weekend.

Thanks!

one more thing..
(this is a different Mark by the way)

I would seal off the unused intake pipe that leads outside.
This is because you said the outside opening was right near the
exhaust pipe. If the intake pipe should clear itself one day and you
are unaware, it will be open and can draw in the exhaust gasses CO etc
into your house. Seal it off on the inside so you know it is sealed.

Mark

Is room air okay for my furnace?
 

On Mon, 11 Feb 2008 08:42:49 -0800 (PST), MNRebecca
wrote:
He assured me the furnace can operate
just fine on room air until temperatures warm up outside (i.e. spring,
which is weeks away) and the pipe clears, at which point I can
reconnect it.

So did they put this in writting?

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