2 sources to same trunk line - workable?

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88bomber

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Take a look at this pic. All duct, air handler and wood furnace are in the unfinished basement. All registers are upstairs. The wood furnace and air handler are probably 20ft apart. I know this isn't optimal, but would it work?

Thanks.View attachment 259805
 
I have a similiar set up. My wood furnace was using the basement air as the cold air return and I noticed that the air flow from the blower (1800 cfm) was not quite what it should be. So, I installed a floor grate directly above the unit on the first floor which alleviates the positive pressure being created on the first floor and increased the air flow. Just food for thought......
 
Thanks for the heads up.

So you don't have any issues when (if) both the air handler AND the wood furnace blower are running? No "competition" in the ductwork with the 2 devices feeding the trunk at different locations?
 
My bad, I didn't know you were running them at the same time. In my case, the wood furnace acts as the primary heat and if it were to go out or cool down, the LP furnace kicks on. My units will never run at the same time. I would think there would be an issue with balancing??
 
I expect it to be rare (if the wood furnace is doing its job), but only a test will tell.

The alternative is to run the wood furnace duct all the way over to the air handler plenum, but there isn't a good way to do that without dropping below the floor trusses...which I don't want to do.

Actually, another alternative would be to put a T in the wood furnace output just above the wood furnace, then install a normally closed and normally open electronic damper and wire it up so that with the air handler comes on, the wood furnace dumps the air into the basement until the air handler turns off, then it'd dump air back into the trunk. Basically, a "duct switch" so that only the air handler OR the wood furnace is feeding the trunk at any given time. More complex, but it'd work I think.
 
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