Forced Air Furnace Blower Question

[wjmst]

During the summer I take the front cover off of my furnace blower so it will move the cool basement air through the house when I turn the furnace fan on. As you can see in the photo, I put a filter on to trap some of the dust.

Our basement is above ground and I usually leave the door open that leads up to our living area. So we don't have any type of air flow or negative pressure issues.

During the winter I use a pellet stove in the basement. Would keeping the front cover off of the furnace help move some of the warmer basement air up through the house as well?

By having this front cover off is it harming anything? Will it shorten the life of the blower since it is not pulling as much air from the return duct run?

Thanks for your thoughts.
Wes

 

[Ed of all trades]

You will have to take what I say and see how or if it applies yo you. I can't see the pic very well. Don't let dust get into your system. It will clog your AC coil and get into your ducts and just make a mess. How ever you do it keep it filtered. Ed

 

[kcflhrc]

I wouldn't do it. I think you are losing efficiency by doing this. It's not circulating all the air in the home properly with the cover off. A better way to do it I think would be to cut a vent in the side of the return in the basement and put one of those louvered vent covers so you can open and close it.

 

[zzvyb6]

I'd say probably not. The blower is at ground level eh ?, and the heat is at the highest point it can get to. Instead, you need to force air by the stove and route it upward to the living space as best as possible.

I have a forced air furnace with a continuously variable air mover and a Clean Effects electrofilter. The blower is always at least running about 25% speed and there are two very good benefits from this: The dust level in the house is way down and the hot and cold spots in rooms and living areas are eliminated. Keeping the air moving continuosly gets you the dust reduction and uniform temperatures throughout. There is no noticeable electric bill increase because of this. You just keep the lights and battery chargers and power supplies manageable. Turning the unused TV's off from standby gets you an even better reduction.

 

[KennyG]

Use your existing return air ducts. I added grilles with dampers in my basement so I could pull return air when my basement wood stove is in use and it works well.

 

[wjmst]

Some good suggestions here thanks. I think I will look into adding a grille into the return air duct. That seems the most logical. It will still pull from the basement when I want the air movement, but I can easily close it as well if I don't want the air.

 

[boggen]

how you have it... it can be done and can work. as others have said keep it filtered. and change the filters as needed / when needed.

would suggest adding 2 vents. into the return duct work. 1 near ceiling, and 1 near floor. so you can open/close the vents pending if winter / summer.

i get a little skiddish with blowers. and filters not held in some tract. the suction that is created can really pull on them filters to point they just fold up and POOF into the blower. possibly damaging blower.

================
if the ceiling (between basement and main floor) is not insulated. just circulating warm air down stairs with say a floor fan. so the air down stairs rotates in a large vortex / whirl pool like current. down stairs. can allow the heat to move around and go right up through the ceiling.

on other hand if you do have insulation. then you are in a bit more trouble.

 

[JRobyn]

I have a wood furnace with its own forced air blower (Charmaster). Install instructions say to never run the blower with the cabinet open because it alters the airflow over the blower motor and can cause it to overheat. Probably applies to regular air handlers as well. The blower motor requires proper airflow for cooling.

- Jay

 

[kenmac]

No, you should not do this.. There's no telling what other things (odors) that will be circulated your home.. It isn't code here.. But, it's your home..Here , a return can be taken from a finished room, But not just a basement, garage, crawl space etc,

 

[dadster4]

Running the blower without the door on (NEVER with a gas furnace) will cause the blower motor to pull too many amps and possibly overheat.
Adding both supply and return openings in the basement ductwork near the ceiling will draw in the heated air from your stove to circulate to the rest of your house.
The supplies are necessary to balance the airflow, so the basement does not become negative in relation to the upper floors- this would cause draft problems with the stove flue.
14 x 6 RA with damper, close to the stove, and two 4 x 10 SA elsewhere will help circulate the heat and work safely!!! 30 Yrs. HVAC experience BTW