It is much more efficient to use outside air for combustion air.
Furnace outside air intake.
Through mechanical ventilation devices such as bathroom or kitchen fans that vent to the outdoors or heating ventilation and air.
If your furnace draws combustion air from inside the house you are using air that you have already heated.
The indoor portion of your unit has an air conditioner return air intake usually located on the ceiling.
To keep smoky air outside close the intake using the damper.
Ways that outdoor air can enter a home.
Usually these small filtered vents help improve air quality since the air outside is typically fresher than the air outside.
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.
Outdoor air including fine particles from wildfire smoke can enter your home in a few ways.
You don t want to bring any of those exhaust gases back into the home heating system.
That is the only thing that is passing between the two units.
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.
How your ac unit works.
If airflow comes in from the top it is a downdraft or downflow furnace.
If return air comes in at the bottom it is an updraft or upflow 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.
Keep the intake hood away from exhaust vents dryer vents and furnace vents.
Typically the fresh air intake will be located in your attic or ducted to the return side of the home s central air handler.
That air is replaced by cold outside air that will then need to be heated.
Baseball is like church.
Many attend but few understand.
Locate a spot for the fresh air intake hood on the outside of the home.
The air that is surrounding your outside unit is just outside air and the air coming from your inside unit is inside air.