Boiler Combustion Air venting question

[theaggie]

I am doing electrical and heating planning for finishing my basement.
The basement is approx 1300 sqft and it contains our 176,000 BTU/hr oil boiler/furnace.
After computing the heat losses I have decided I would prefer to only heat the "Family Room" portion. But... the shop area is where the boiler is and so I must somehow provide combustion air. Can I do this with an outside air vent? The wall next to the boiler contains a 10" wide cutout in the foundation wall that starts about 1/2 way up and extends up to the joists. It seems like that may be what it is for?

What would be required such that I would not need to vent to the "Family Room" (the shop+mud room is well below the confined space limit)?

Is one vent sufficient or would I need two? What size?

Can this be a free air vent or does it require a fan? What decides that?

Where would the vent(s) empty out / attach? Does it need to attach directly to the combustion chamber?

What keeps the vent(s) from turning my shop into a freezer? I don't mind if it isn't heated but I do want it to stay well above freezing.

Anything else / other comments would be greatly appreciated.
We moved to the North East from Houston Texas so basements (called indoor swimming pools in Houston) and cold weather (30 is cold for Houston) are still a learning experience.

Mark

[Cole]

We moved to the North East from Houston Texas so basements (called indoor swimming pools in Houston) and cold weather (30 is cold for Houston) are still a learning experience.



Exactly :lol: :lol:

[doinitmyself]

Get an outside air intake. This consists of a "boot" that fits over the air band on the burner(the pump has to come off 1st), some 4" vent pipe(rigid or that flexible aluminum stuff for dryers but NOT the foil type) a "vacuum breaker" which is almost like your draft regulator and will allow inside air to the burner in the event that the outside vent becomes blocked and an outside vent termination that looks like a dryer vent termination but works in the opposite direction.
You can nstall this yourself, BUT, the air will need to be adjusted and you sould NOT do this by eye. So unless you have a smoke tester and CO2 analyzer, you should call whoever cleans your boiler to set up the fire. \
You will need to know the make of the burner, I've only installed these on Beckett's, they may or may not be available for other makes.
This will allow you to draw air directly from outside without turning your shop into a freezer and if you do any sanding or woodworking down there, the sawdust won't get into the burner.