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Vent to the outside


Hello.
I recently bought a house with steam heat. The boiler is in the basement. In the attached picture, you can see an insulated duct. At the top it is connected to a vent to the outside and it is open at the bottom. It's about 10 degrees here in Michigan, so cold air is pouring into my basement.
My question is, what is the purpose of this and can i cover it?
Thanks in advance.
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Comments
Building superintendent/caretaker, 7200 sq. ft. historic house museum with dependencies in New England.
Hoffman Equipped System (all original except boiler), Weil-Mclain 580, 2.75 gph Carlin, Vapourstat 0.5 -- 6.0 ounces per square inch
Now the bad news is, it's hard to tell with the insulation in the way but that boiler looks like it may be piped poorly....
That gives me an idea- wire up a standard stack damper to a fan center relay?
"Reducing our country's energy consumption, one system at a time"
Steam, Vapor & Hot-Water Heating Specialists
Oil & Gas Burner Service
Baltimore, MD (USA) and consulting anywhere.
https://heatinghelp.com/find-a-contractor/detail/all-steamed-up-inc
> It should be possible to put an automatic damper in that duct, with an interlock that won't let the burner start unless the damper is open. Kind of like a stack damper on an atmospheric gas boiler.
>
> That gives me an idea- wire up a standard stack damper to a fan center relay?
I did that.
The damper motor has an end switch that completes the call for heat aftet damper opens.
Just wanted to show @CraigMI an example
A couple questions:
1. Is it ok to insulate the room to prevent the cold air from cooling the basement?
2. Could I temporary block the vent and leave the door open to the room?
2. Probably not a really good idea...
Building superintendent/caretaker, 7200 sq. ft. historic house museum with dependencies in New England.
Hoffman Equipped System (all original except boiler), Weil-Mclain 580, 2.75 gph Carlin, Vapourstat 0.5 -- 6.0 ounces per square inch