I did this 30 years ago, but all I did was use a hand nibbler and carved out a hole about 50 sq in. I saved the piece I cut out and attached it with a sheet metal screw in case there was someday a reason to cover it back up. I did it not so much to cool my upstairs, but to circulate air in my basement, where I keep my precious vintage motorcycles. Mission accomplished. People may disagree on "climate change" but nobody disputes that the climate has changed. I may have to cut a bigger hole as my AC bill keeps climbing.
I know this was added 7 years ago, should have done this 7 years earlier instead of blasting my ac to get the upstairs comfortable. But now, I went further and opened my furnace cover to expose the blower to the basement air, and replaced the cover the with an air filter so that the intake is even bigger. Now the temperature difference between the floors are somewhat the same, although of course the basement is still the coolest, at least it's not freezing while the 3rd fl is hot. Must be good for saving on electricity as well 👍
Thank you for posting your comment! Did you have defeat your furnace safety switch to do this! Also, depending on the age of your furnace, it may recommend that it sit on the floor on a stand which might accomplish the same thing. Many furnaces might be installed wrong!
We are remodeling a 2 story house which has the A/C unit and heat pump in the attic. I would like to put a fan in the basement and connect it to this system to suck cool basement air through the ducts. Do you have a suggestion for this? At our old house, BTW, we just opened the furnace fan unit, put a filter over the opening and turned on the fan. Works great and dehumidified the basement too.
This action increased the AC run time. As the system pulls hot air out, meaning less warmer air being pulled from upstairs. I seperated it to a independant 4" duct with solar powered fan; to deliver (push) the colder air upstairs.
Thanks very much! Please film an updated video (better audio/video). I will definitively try this. I have an 8° difference between the basement and the first floor! And humidity: 52% upstairs, 61% basement...
I have a finished basement with an open stairwell to the 1st floor. It needs to be heated in the summer all the time. Would this help? Would pulling some of the cold air this way to the 1st and 2nd floor pull warmer air into the basement? I also have individual returns throughout the house. I was thinking of disconnecting one coming from a shared space in the 2nd floor, putting a high CFM duct fan one it, and pulling some of that hot air into the basement. Would that work?
If you have a very tight house without makeup air you are correct. So... install makeup air into your mechanical room so the furnace (if it is not closed combustion) and the hot water tank can burn outside air. The dryer sends 200 cfm of air outside when it is running creating negative air, it can pull air down the chimney if the house it too tight also. Check out my makeup air youtube first.
My house has this already, now I'm wondering what if I put a small portable a/c Infront of that cut hole to blow colder air into the inlet for the furnace to disperse? Still trying to think of where I'd plumb the exhuast of the ac mind you.
I'm just trying to balance the upstairs air with the basement in the summer. I put the control on heat both in basement and upstairs and turn the fan on. The humidity was 54 and temperature was 78 in upstairs, The humidity was 62 and temperature was 67 in the basement. It seems it's balancing, but my question is how can I make sure the dehumidifier is working to reduce the humidity in whole house? and also, can I speed up the fan?
When, and if, you use air conditioning to cool it will dehumidify better and cheaper than a dehumidifier. If not your dehumidifier will remove humidity no matter what. You may need a furnace technician to alter the fan speed, there are so many furnaces and they all have different controls.
No, do not block off an cold air returns upstairs. They are balanced for each area up there. Adding the return in the basement balances it off since your supplies down there don't have a return. You need air conditioning to have a fan-on switch. You'll need a furnace man to get you a fan switch if you only have heat-furnace.
Only problem is where the cool air is is also where all the humidity is, you’re going to be pulling wet musty air int your system if you have a must basement, which in summer is most likely the case
Sameer, is there a return air duct run to the floor of the first floor. if not you'll need a duct from the basement floor run to the upper units cold air return.
Great video! Quick question. Do you block off the main intake (which is at the upper floor) and then make a hole at the back of the furnace to put a vent?
No, do not mess with the vents upstairs. This precedure is for getting the supply vents in the basement ceiling to be drawn to the return on the furnace. Change the air in the basement is the goal. Only to share cool air with the upstairs.
Just make sure your water heater is direct vent or you will be sucking the carbon monoxide back into the house. Also make sure if the furnace goes back to heat mode that the hole is closed or it could suck the combusted air into the furnace. This kind of advice is actually kind of dangerous
Henry, the point is draw air from the supply vent across the room. It is supplying air to the room so as long as the furnace or the return is not in a sealed room it is not starving for air forcing it to draw down the chimney.
What if you don't have a furnace, but simple baseboard heaters? We do have a vacuum cleaner system in the house. Could I open an outlet of the basement and open one with a fan in my bedroom?
The vacuum system is not an efficient method of moving air, too noisy and expensive electricity wise. If you were willing to make a 6'' or so hole in the floor you could get a duct fan and mount it near the floor and run flex pipe through the floor in one end of your house away from the stairs. The fan could draw cool air off the basement floor sending it to one end of your house and use the stairs to allow replacement air back downstairs. This method could be against building codes so a call to the local inspector could be warranted.
My house is old. Vents on the 2nd floor with the only cold air return by the front door in the 7x7 forier (sp). The cold air returns in my house are floor grates. 2x18 in dinning room and the forier that is shared with the living room where the upstairs cold air returns too. Any tips?
I bet those floor returns are connected to the furnace with a ducting to the base of the furnace. That is where I'd install a return, however not seeing your situation I suggest you get a furnace technical in there first. Blair
Thanks for fortifying my thought re pulling air from my cellar located furnace......however I am concerned about the cool months also.....wont that added air access in the furnace draw too much COLD air in the winter???????? Please do address this part of the issue so I can proceed quickly and stay cooler......gads its 96* here and my duct system sucks. Thanks a bunch Rick
Before you install a return you'll need to check for a supply vent. Don't pull from an area that will cause negative air because of the danger of drawing carbon monoxide down the chimney. You can add a supply vent on the hot air duct at the ceiling, then an equal size vent on the return duct near the floor. If you don't want to live in this area in the winter close off both vents in the fall.
I hope that house has a combustion air duct in the basement and a fresh air duct tied into the return plenum. if not then you are gonna backdraft appliances and draw radon from the basement and spread throughout the house.
Combustion air and makeup air are now code when building a new home in Michigan. Drawing air from the basement in an open format as in the video is not creating negative air since there are supply vents also in the basement. Radon is dangerous upstairs and down, you should check your house for it regardless of my return air video.
If the furnace is in a closed room it sure can. Something I stress not to do. This is for an open basement or pipe the cold air from the living area of the basement to the furnace return.
I would like to do this, really need to! So do you block off the main 'intake' upstairs when wanting it to only pull from downstairs? also, how do you kick on your heater fan without it making heat?
News flash: The furnace is in the basement.The air in the furnace box is the same temp as the air that the cut-out vent is drawing in from the rest of the basement.
BREAKING News flash! The furnace is sucking air from the whole house through what we call in the business "intake vents" on every floor EXCEPT the basement. Without an air intake in the basement the air in the furnace is actually the same temp as all the other stories in your parents house. Don't come here and dog on this guy's video when you haven't the slightest idea how a furnace works.
30% of most minerals are silicates why are they bad? Curious cause we are using a FAN at basement level stairs blowing that cooler lower humidity air up and into the hallway entrance upstairs. It's a finished basement and no mold I even use Neg Ion Generator near sump pump well.
PS yes we de humidify basement it is lower than 1st flr. Also we are seeing record HEAT 2019 and each year it's worse power bills sky high..trying to stay cool without going broke!
I did this 30 years ago, but all I did was use a hand nibbler and carved out a hole about 50 sq in. I saved the piece I cut out and attached it with a sheet metal screw in case there was someday a reason to cover it back up. I did it not so much to cool my upstairs, but to circulate air in my basement, where I keep my precious vintage motorcycles. Mission accomplished. People may disagree on "climate change" but nobody disputes that the climate has changed. I may have to cut a bigger hole as my AC bill keeps climbing.
I know this was added 7 years ago, should have done this 7 years earlier instead of blasting my ac to get the upstairs comfortable. But now, I went further and opened my furnace cover to expose the blower to the basement air, and replaced the cover the with an air filter so that the intake is even bigger. Now the temperature difference between the floors are somewhat the same, although of course the basement is still the coolest, at least it's not freezing while the 3rd fl is hot. Must be good for saving on electricity as well 👍
听起来，挺不错的！
Is your furnace in a mechanical room or open air like in the video?
Gonna try your idea too.
All it'll cost is a few $$s for a filter !
Thank you for posting your comment! Did you have defeat your furnace safety switch to do this! Also, depending on the age of your furnace, it may recommend that it sit on the floor on a stand which might accomplish the same thing. Many furnaces might be installed wrong!
This is exactly what I was looking for, thanks alot!
We are remodeling a 2 story house which has the A/C unit and heat pump in the attic. I would like to put a fan in the basement and connect it to this system to suck cool basement air through the ducts. Do you have a suggestion for this?
At our old house, BTW, we just opened the furnace fan unit, put a filter over the opening and turned on the fan. Works great and dehumidified the basement too.
This action increased the AC run time. As the system pulls hot air out, meaning less warmer air being pulled from upstairs.
I seperated it to a independant 4" duct with solar powered fan; to deliver (push) the colder air upstairs.
yet.. with the furnace off in the summer how exactly is the air going to move upstairs.
some discussion about more than a vent would be great.
You are going to put the thermostat fan switch to ‘on’ not auto. It will ‘stir’ the air in your house blending the air everywhere.
Thanks very much! Please film an updated video (better audio/video). I will definitively try this. I have an 8° difference between the basement and the first floor! And humidity: 52% upstairs, 61% basement...
I have a finished basement with an open stairwell to the 1st floor. It needs to be heated in the summer all the time. Would this help? Would pulling some of the cold air this way to the 1st and 2nd floor pull warmer air into the basement? I also have individual returns throughout the house. I was thinking of disconnecting one coming from a shared space in the 2nd floor, putting a high CFM duct fan one it, and pulling some of that hot air into the basement. Would that work?
Mine is same urs I could see where it would
If you have a very tight house without makeup air you are correct. So... install makeup air into your mechanical room so the furnace (if it is not closed combustion) and the hot water tank can burn outside air. The dryer sends 200 cfm of air outside when it is running creating negative air, it can pull air down the chimney if the house it too tight also. Check out my makeup air youtube first.
My house has this already, now I'm wondering what if I put a small portable a/c Infront of that cut hole to blow colder air into the inlet for the furnace to disperse? Still trying to think of where I'd plumb the exhuast of the ac mind you.
I think a small unit would be lost feeding a house. Put it in one room for best results.
I'm just trying to balance the upstairs air with the basement in the summer. I put the control on heat both in basement and upstairs and turn the fan on. The humidity was 54 and temperature was 78 in upstairs, The humidity was 62 and temperature was 67 in the basement. It seems it's balancing, but my question is how can I make sure the dehumidifier is working to reduce the humidity in whole house? and also, can I speed up the fan?
When, and if, you use air conditioning to cool it will dehumidify better and cheaper than a dehumidifier. If not your dehumidifier will remove humidity no matter what. You may need a furnace technician to alter the fan speed, there are so many furnaces and they all have different controls.
No, do not block off an cold air returns upstairs. They are balanced for each area up there. Adding the return in the basement balances it off since your supplies down there don't have a return. You need air conditioning to have a fan-on switch. You'll need a furnace man to get you a fan switch if you only have heat-furnace.
Only problem is where the cool air is is also where all the humidity is, you’re going to be pulling wet musty air int your system if you have a must basement, which in summer is most likely the case
And the a/c on the furnace is a giant dehumidifier, unless it is overwhelmed your basement will be dryer and fresher in days.
Sameer, is there a return air duct run to the floor of the first floor. if not you'll need a duct from the basement floor run to the upper units cold air return.
What about back draft issues?
Great video!
Quick question. Do you block off the main intake (which is at the upper floor) and then make a hole at the back of the furnace to put a vent?
No, do not mess with the vents upstairs. This precedure is for getting the supply vents in the basement ceiling to be drawn to the return on the furnace. Change the air in the basement is the goal. Only to share cool air with the upstairs.
Just make sure your water heater is direct vent or you will be sucking the carbon monoxide back into the house. Also make sure if the furnace goes back to heat mode that the hole is closed or it could suck the combusted air into the furnace. This kind of advice is actually kind of dangerous
Henry, the point is draw air from the supply vent across the room. It is supplying air to the room so as long as the furnace or the return is not in a sealed room it is not starving for air forcing it to draw down the chimney.
Can I just open the cover of the basement filter screen all the year round?
to achieve this effect
The casing for changing the filter is opened all the year round
I do, as long as the air is still filtered.
My exact problem. Thank you!
What if you don't have a furnace, but simple baseboard heaters? We do have a vacuum cleaner system in the house. Could I open an outlet of the basement and open one with a fan in my bedroom?
The vacuum system is not an efficient method of moving air, too noisy and expensive electricity wise. If you were willing to make a 6'' or so hole in the floor you could get a duct fan and mount it near the floor and run flex pipe through the floor in one end of your house away from the stairs. The fan could draw cool air off the basement floor sending it to one end of your house and use the stairs to allow replacement air back downstairs. This method could be against building codes so a call to the local inspector could be warranted.
Sounds good, I'll check, thanks.
My house is old. Vents on the 2nd floor with the only cold air return by the front door in the 7x7 forier (sp). The cold air returns in my house are floor grates. 2x18 in dinning room and the forier that is shared with the living room where the upstairs cold air returns too. Any tips?
I bet those floor returns are connected to the furnace with a ducting to the base of the furnace. That is where I'd install a return, however not seeing your situation I suggest you get a furnace technical in there first. Blair
Thanks for fortifying my thought re pulling air from my cellar located furnace......however I am concerned about the cool months also.....wont that added air access in the furnace draw too much COLD air in the winter???????? Please do address this part of the issue so I can proceed quickly and stay cooler......gads its 96* here and my duct system sucks.
Thanks a bunch Rick
Before you install a return you'll need to check for a supply vent. Don't pull from an area that will cause negative air because of the danger of drawing carbon monoxide down the chimney. You can add a supply vent on the hot air duct at the ceiling, then an equal size vent on the return duct near the floor. If you don't want to live in this area in the winter close off both vents in the fall.
I hope that house has a combustion air duct in the basement and a fresh air duct tied into the return plenum. if not then you are gonna backdraft appliances and draw radon from the basement and spread throughout the house.
Combustion air and makeup air are now code when building a new home in Michigan. Drawing air from the basement in an open format as in the video is not creating negative air since there are supply vents also in the basement. Radon is dangerous upstairs and down, you should check your house for it regardless of my return air video.
goddad wow genius
.....all basements don't have radon leaks...what a moron
@@331whf9 I hope you are more chill 2 years later. Making fun of people in a tutorial video for having questions is a jerk move.
What about backdrafting the chimney?
If the furnace is in a closed room it sure can. Something I stress not to do. This is for an open basement or pipe the cold air from the living area of the basement to the furnace return.
I was thinking of just attaching a chiminy fan to some duct work. spiders are a down there too.
I would like to do this, really need to!
So do you block off the main 'intake' upstairs when wanting it to only pull from downstairs? also, how do you kick on your heater fan without it making heat?
This seems like a reasonable question I'd like to see an answer to...?
where to buy the return air grilles? Thanks
Good hardware store, big box building supply
Should air be blowing out when I’m finished?
No, it is drawing in cold damp air off the basement floor in order to start changing the air down there. Make the basement more livable.
Wait but the fan in furnace is not going to turn on till the flame turns on how do I bypass that
If your thermostat does not have a fan switch, On/Auto, then you can't.
Plus, the flame us only for Winter gas burning.
Summer AC doesn't use gas & flame etc.
News flash: The furnace is in the basement.The air in the furnace box is the same temp as the air that the cut-out vent is drawing in from the rest of the basement.
BREAKING News flash!
The furnace is sucking air from the whole house through what we call in the business "intake vents" on every floor EXCEPT the basement. Without an air intake in the basement the air in the furnace is actually the same temp as all the other stories in your parents house.
Don't come here and dog on this guy's video when you haven't the slightest idea how a furnace works.
that is disgusting actually. do not circulate basement or crawlspace air into living spaces it is full of silicates.mold.moisture//radon whatever
If that air is being moved it won't build up radon, moving it reduces moisture preventing growth of mold. Leaving it stagnant makes it just that.
Radon could even be fake or harmless and you make some good points but I would still proceed with caution especially in older or faulty basements
30% of most minerals are silicates why are they bad? Curious cause we are using a FAN at basement level stairs blowing that cooler lower humidity air up and into the hallway entrance upstairs. It's a finished basement and no mold I even use Neg Ion Generator near sump pump well.
PS yes we de humidify basement it is lower than 1st flr. Also we are seeing record HEAT 2019 and each year it's worse power bills sky high..trying to stay cool without going broke!
If my basement is clean, is it okay then?