If return air comes in at the bottom it is an updraft or upflow furnace.
Furnace outside air intake.
Typically the fresh air intake will be located in your attic or ducted to the return side of the home s central air handler.
Through open windows and doors which is known as natural ventilation.
Outdoor air including fine particles from wildfire smoke can enter your home in a few ways.
Baseball is like church.
How your ac unit works.
However this does not mean that your home does not need a fresh air intake just because you have a high efficiency furnace.
If airflow comes in from the top it is a downdraft or downflow furnace.
There is no chimney in the house gases are vented through pvc pipe out the walls seperate 2 for water heater and furnace has 2 4 pvc plus this 6 outside air intake.
You don t want to bring any of those exhaust gases back into the home heating system.
There are alot of gas furnaces in this neck of the woods that have no outside air intake granted these are mainly older homes.
Since high efficiency furnaces draw air directly from outside the furnace itself does not require a fresh air intake in order to replace inside air that otherwise would have been drawn from the room the furnace is located in.
If your furnace draws combustion air from inside the house you are using air that you have already heated.
The air that is surrounding your outside unit is just outside air and the air coming from your inside unit is inside air.
Locate a spot for the fresh air intake hood on the outside of the home.
But during a wildfire they can pour unhealthy air into your home s interiors.
Keep the intake hood away from exhaust vents dryer vents and furnace vents.
Unfortunately the fresh air intake you have described is the second type and does not provide direct combustion air to the furnace room as it is directly connected to the return air plenum for.
Usually these small filtered vents help improve air quality since the air outside is typically fresher than the air outside.
The indoor portion of your unit has an air conditioner return air intake usually located on the ceiling.
That is the only thing that is passing between the two units.
It is much more efficient to use outside air for combustion air.
Ways that outdoor air can enter a home.
Many attend but few understand.