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Vents from boiler room

8K views 3 replies 2 participants last post by  yuri 
#1 ·
I live in a condo that has the boiler in a storage room on the balcony. The room immediately next to this storage room is my dining room. I've been trying to do things to help keep the condo warmer in the winter since I apparently have no blood. :p I noticed that there seem to be two vents between the dining room and the storage room that I don't think serve a purpose except for maybe letting cold air from the storage room come into the condo.

I've attached a few pictures to try to help explain it better. The first picture is from the storage room. I'm not too familiar with HVAC systems, but I assume that the air intake part is on the bottom and the air that's forced out is on the top. From the view in the dining room, the section of the ceiling that's lower (and blood red :eek:) is the duct work for the forced air. The vent just below that is just open to the storage room air. The bottom vent, the lower half is connected to the air intake ductwork, the upper half is open to the storage room air.

My question is, do the upper vent and the upper half of the bottom vent really need to be there? Can I close those off to try to keep the condo a little warmer?
 

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#2 · (Edited)
#1, you have a forced air furnace and not a boiler, a boiler heats hot water and uses radiators.

#2 the duct at the bottom of the furnace/lower grills is the return air supply for the furnace AND combustion air inlet for the furnace and cannot be blocked. The other higher grill is to let air into the furnace/storage room for the furnace to use for combustion/to burn the gas and cannot be altered. If any of those grills are covered the furnace will be short of air/burn dirty and produce CO Carbon Monoxide. They have to be there for safety and for the gas code rules.

Put on a sweater or crank up the thermostat. LOL:thumbup:

PS, I am like you and have a 1500 watt baseboard heater by my bay window in the kitchen. Like to have a warm butt while reading the daily news.:laughing:
 
#3 ·
#1, you have a forced air furnace and not a boiler, a boiler heats hot water and uses radiators.
Thanks, my terminology definitely is not up to par with this stuff. ;)

I figured there had to be a purpose for those vents, kind of sucks that I have to let cold air into the house in order to get warm air to come in, too. P

Grandpa and me have snuggies that help, but still can't keep the hands and face that warm. :furious:
 
#4 ·
That furnace consumes a lot of air for the fire and that is why you feel cold. It has to be drawn in somewhere. In the future if you are getting a new furnace and it can be installed, a high efficiency furnace will eliminate that problem as it takes it's combustion air from outdoors. They are not always easy to install in condos due to the vent pipes sticking out a wall/condo rules etc. An electric furnace will solve your problem also but you need bigger wiring etc. Chase Gramps around to keep warm, just joking. My Grandma lived to be 94 and kicking to the end.:thumbup:
 
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