I recently bought a house built in 1973. Furnace is about 10 years old. The basement is colder than it should be. I noticed the vent in the corner of the furnace room. It vents onto side of house about 3 feet from front door and onto driveway. It looks like a dryer vent on the side of my house. The bottom of the stack is not seeled off and just pouring -30 air into my furnace room. The only thing on the bottom of the stack is a bug screen.
The new vent for the furnace now vents up through the roof.
Is this a neccesity for fresh air to the furnace? I was thinking it was the original furnace ventilation no longer to code. I would like to seal it off so cold air isnt coming into my basement anymore.
Thoughts?