adding a cold air return in the basement/forced air furnace

[John]

I have a forced air furnace in a two story brick house. Would adding a cold air return in the basement help the air circulation in the basement.

It is very dusty in the basement, I have an air cleaner which helps alot but not in the basement.

Could I just cut a hole in the cold air return duct in the basement or do I need to add ductwork. Would this hamper the flow of the air in the house

[Jay J -Moderator]

Hi John,

… But as you are thinking, so am I. It’s quite possible that adding another return will affect the rest of the house.

This might be best addressed by a professional. He may say that a very small duct would be OK but there are too many variables that are unknown. Is the basement heated? Is it finished? How big is it? What type of unit do you have? Is it ‘properly installed’ as is meaning you SHOULD have a duct in the basement?

Maybe others have more to offer. I’m sorry, I’m not an HVAC ‘pro’. My best to ya and hope this helps.

Jay J -Moderator

[bc]

You will also bring up all those rank basement odors into the house and your wife may tell you no. Also keep any opening in a basement return out of the furnace room and at least 10′ or more away from the furnace so no wayward flue gas and DEADLY CARBON MONOXIDE from the furnace and hot water heater can get sucked into your air ducts in your house. The return air can cause a negative pressure to pull down flue gas out of the flue pipe. People have died from this before. Have an HVAC pro look at your system.

[Keith High]

I have a ranch stlye home. With ele. heat and a wood stove in the basement.I have piped the heat to 2 registers in the house. One of the registers is in our four season sunroom. I was wondering about putting a cold-air return in. Where and how big?

Thank you, Keith High

[Chuck Stevenson]

I have a pellet stove in the basement, in a finished rec room with a cold air return. I leave the furnace fan running all the time, but I would like to get more heat upstairs. Any suggestions.

Thanks

Chuck

[tva]

i just did it and it recirculates the air from the basement and heats it

does great for a cold basement

[Laura]

I have a serious sound continuation problem that comes through the vent of the air duct on the basement ceiling and travels through the cold air return vent on the main floor. The sound is not coming from the furnace room, it’s the sounds of music or tv in the basement. I don’t know how I can resolve this issue without harming the airflow in the house. The vent on the mainfloor needs to be closed or moved but I’m worried that the remining duct will be too small.

[Jenny]

I am trying very hard to heat a large finished basement. Will putting in a gas stove and a couple of cold air returns solve my frustrating problem? We have many heat ducts in the ceiling, but just isn’t taking the coldness out of the air.

Any ideas?

[John Cravillion]

I am getting estimates on replacing the furnace in my house. I have had 3 different HVAC contractors give me pricing and one of them said that the house had nowhere near enough return air for any heating or air conditioning unit to be efficient and that I should re-size my main ducts in the basement, add more return registers on the first level and add supply registers in the 2nd level. I then had another of the contractors, who originally never mentioned his concern over this lack of return or supply air, come back and re-evaluate the situation and he still maintained that although I was maybe a bit short, he did not think it was necessary to re-configure or additional ducting. I’m wondering how two contractors can have such a different view on the situation and if there is an exact fromula used to determine required return and supply air amounts. Please advise.

[Jim Poor]

What do I need to install a cold air return in the upstair bedroom? And what is the procedure to this installation? Thanks for all the help.

[Author]

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