HELP: HVAC assistance required! Super Cold!

[spikerS]

Alright, So I meant to tackle this last year, but forgot, and just kept using a space heater in the girl's playroom, but it seems even worse this year, and the cold weather has not really started yet.

Seriously, this cold draft is making the entire basement freaking cold!

There is a crazy draft coming from the furnace, and it is really cold air. I am assuming it is a fresh air draw, so i have not taped it off or anything for fear of screwing something else up, i mean it has to be that way for a reason, right?

How can I fix this issue without causing another one?

HALP!

Attached are some pics to show where the cold air is coming in from.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a334/Snorakk/20131025_085634_zps4589ea8d.jpg
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a334/Snorakk/20131025_085548_zps664d4954.jpg
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a334/Snorakk/20131025_085612_zps75f39b5a.jpg

[OU812]

if it helps any, thats your fresh air intake they are always cold

[CapnCrunch]

Your kid plays in the furnace room?

[ianmcc]

You need a Hoyme damper.
http://www.hoyme.com/

[frozenrice]

Originally posted by OU812
if it helps any, thats your fresh air intake they are always cold

^^^This. It mixes in fresh air from outside with the stale air coming from the return air ducts. I know some of it is supposed to dump back into the furnace room but I can't remember 100% why (maybe for some combustion intake air for the furnace?)

Anyways that has nothing to do with why the other rooms are getting cold air. I'm assuming you've changed the filter so it could be that you need to adjust the dampers on the individual runs (if there were any installed to begin with). If you follow the runs off the main heat duct there should be some handles on them that you can turn to adjust the damper inside of the duct. Close off the ones where you don't need as much heat to help balance off where you want more heat to go.

[GTS4tw]

Mine has that kind of opening but there is a door on it and it says "Close in winter".

[Ca_Silvia13]

^ I don't reccomend ever closing that but ianmcc is correct you need a combustion air damper wired to your furnace. They stay closed until the furnace kicks in and opens automatically to help mix the air.

Easy install, easy to wire, should't be too expensive

[codetrap]

Is there floor level cold air returns in their rooms? I found that as soon as I added a cold air return, the basement warmed up dramatically.

[spikerS]

Not in the basement no.

Seriously Codetrap, you should come over and see what is going on. On a cold day, the basement can seriously get downright freezing down there.

I seriously need to find a fast and cheap solution to this.

[Darell_n]

The best way to warm your basement is to build a utility room around your furnace and water heater. Wouldn't be more than a few hundred $$ and was the first and most effective section I finished while developing my basement. It doesn't have to be fancy, just a few walls and a door big enough to fit a new tank through.

[90_Shelby]

Originally posted by Darell_n
The best way to warm your basement is to build a utility room around your furnace and water heater. Wouldn't be more than a few hundred $$ and was the first and most effective section I finished while developing my basement. It doesn't have to be fancy, just a few walls and a door big enough to fit a new tank through.


I agree with this. I took it a step furher and also insulated my furnace room to keep the cold fresh air in one place.