Carolotta asks,
Home is over 160+ years old. I have had a problem with the furnace from the begining. I had put in I think 4-5 years I will have to find my papers on it for the date put in. I have lived in the house 8 years in March. When I had the furnace put in. It was putting a puddle of water in the bottom of the box and drained out all over the floor. No problem with that it will dry up per (seller that put it in). I told him to fix it. It would rust the bottom out. After a couple trips they did. Then when the freezing weather started. I was smelling gas & exhaust. At the beginning of the fan I smell a gas & exhaust smell. Three years ago I was diagnosed with cancer and still fighting but didn’t get rid of the cancer. So I am confined in the house 24 hrs 7days a week. My doctor doesn’t want me working, but I have a home base business and home business to make up the money as much as I can.
My retirement is I am an ex-insulator pipefitter for the Navy. So on 1 Jan this year I changed the piping that originally was put in. Both were piped outside the house at the same location just afew inches from each other. I changed the inlet to the otherside of the house on the Southwest side of the house and out near the air conditioner. I left the outlet going out from the side it has always been to the North West side of the house. When I moved the inlet to the otherside of the house when I cut the piping the inlet just fell out of the furnace hole. I am thinking what is with that?
I was able to get rid of the Gas odor, but not the exhaust odor. I have had inspectors over from two companies with the furnace the original guys and a company the next city over same furnace makers. They keep telling me if it wasn’t working right it would shut down. I had the hot water tank checked and cleaned no problem there. That is the only other gas item in the house. I had the old fire place checked for a possible problem that is still connected to the hot water tank.
Since I changed the piping it is running longer than it was and getting the house warmer. I just can’t get rid of the exhaust smell. My cats stay near the windows that I leave a crack open for air. At night before I go to bed I air out the house then leave a window opened a crack for good air near my bed.
I was waking up with headache’s that has stopped since I changed the piping. I am afraid there is a crack in the box or that the exhaust line is a problem. My Navy experience is with ships not houses.
I was told if I contact the gas company they would throw me out of my house and shut down the house. I have no were else to go or the money to go there. I have two cats and two dogs I have no were to take as well. I expect it is a hard area to locate and that is why they don’t want to fix it. That is the problem I had when it leaked water. Anything you recommend? That I should check being it seems up to me to correct.
My being nervous is not good for my medical condition and I am a reck. Please help me! Before I found out I had cancer I check the house or radon and at that time 3 years ago it was I think 18 on the scale so 4X normal rate at least.
The only thing going up that chimney is the hot water tank insert. No fireplace as far as I know has ever been there.
I will use the ash for my garden this spring.
I ask about the hole the person that put in the insert left open. That person putting in the insert said it can be left that way OPEN (8" x 10" opening) because the line he put in is enclosed and doesn't exhaust in the chimney now.
I can cover that hole but he said it was a good clean out area to leave it open. So I could put a tin cover over it and screw in the cover to clean it out if need be. I can brick in that hole it is no longer needed. If it doesn't effect the hot water tank's insert line I will just leave it.
I have had a liner put into the chimney day before yesterday.
The second ordor is now gone. It has was been great not smelling that exhaust odor.
Moving the furnace vent intake line took care of the gas exhaust so now both are gone and I am starting to physically feel better.
My eyes are no longer burning and feeling so heavy. Thank you for your advice.
I don't think the locals here would have told me about the liner. It took me some time to find someone that would put it in.
I had the company that put the furnace in come over with a measuring device and said the levels were normal. That it must be the radon I was smelling not the hot water tank or furnace. I was charged $200 just to find out it was normal measurement. He didn't tell me what normal was for upstairs. That crew will not be back. Ha!
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR LETTING ME KNOW ABOUT A ORPHAN HOT WATER TANK THAT HAS CORRECTED THE LAST OF THE FUMES.
I know how to e-mail but not blogged, etc. I don't know what they do or who sees that. Sorry if that would have helped you get this message out. I would have done that I just don't know how to do it.
O.K. No vacuum. The only chimney sweep around was the one I called. I looked on the computer he was the only one in this area. Registered. I will call him back and have him do a better job.
The last testing for the exhaust was $200 that they did Monday. So I hope this gets better and done.
The ash pit that your talking about should have been cleaned by the chimney person from the get go.
It also should not be open. The draft should be pulled from the hot water heater pipe opening. While draft being pulled out of the bottom hole is ok, its not really correct.
What concerns me is the amount of material that is being pulled out. Is there a fireplace attached to this somewhere? Are we sure that the hot water heater is not connected to the same flue as the fireplace? If so this needs to be corrected.
Also what concerns me is the color changes of the material being removed. If its getting lighter in color this may be a sign that the interior of the chimney is failing. A good qualified chimney sweep should be consulted and have them look in with cameras and figure out once and for all what is going on.
the most important thing I can tell you is DO NOT use a shop vacuum to clean out ash. You risk destroying the vacuum from the fine soot, and risk catching the vacuum on fire. Combustion by products, ASH when compressed and heated by the vacuums blower system can catch on fire. Shovel this material out and dispose of it in metal cans. Or spread it around gardens as it tends to have a high acid content and is good for some types of plants. But what ever you do, do not use your vacuum. There are special soot vacuums designed just for this type of product.
Keep me updated.
Bob
Well the guy from the original installer came over did a check for fumes with this gadget. Found nothing.
When I see him looking around he asked about the lower hole for the chimney was for and why that was there. I told him it was the draft hole and it was to carry air up. It was to carry the gas up the chimney from the above hole where the hot water tank vent carried the gas up. He says Oh! When he put the light in the lower draft hole I noticed cinder laying about 18 inches in that hole. The chimney sweep should have cleaned that hole out. He did not.
After he left I went back down stairs and started troweling that hole out. I now have a overflowing, cat box, dish pan and a 5 pound hamburger container full of cinder material. Most is black the top or last removed from the above hole is lighter color material. Chimney or maybe grouted material is lighter.
The fumes are now less then they were. I can now reach all the way back with my arm length plus trowel and also opened that hole above that was closed off with black cinder and knocked it down. It looks like it was been closed for quite a while with all the material I pulled out of there. That hole also still is not exiting very well, but better than it was. I wondered if the shape in the back which I can’t reach has another curve between the lower draft to the next chamber (hot water tank hole) I can’t reach. I do have a shop vac that will be my next attempt maybe I can get it up in back or down from the top and suck out any blockage. Being I can’t reach it. It seems to be a narrower area in back going down to the draft hole.
The fumes are better not as much. So still investigating. Ha!
Carolotta,
I would steer away from an electrical hot water heater, unless you have no other option. These units can be expensive to operate and unless your electrical service can handle this additional power it may be too costly to install. However I am not sure of your power costs as there are areas in the country in which electrical power is less costly then gas or oil. So you would need to make this choice based on your budget.
As far as installing walls etc to handle mold, this is a issue that has perplexed me for a very long time. You simply cannot block this stuff off. You need to address the issue and prevent it from occurring. While you cannot prevent moisture below the floor you can seal the floor off with plastic and cement to prevent the communication of it into the living area. Thus the odors. A wall will do nothing to prevent it from getting around the house nor stop any radon.
As far as contacting me. Use these boards. I get a email response every time someone writes a response to this question. So I will know when you add anything else. Keep us posted on how you make out. And good luck with your illness. As a chairperson for the Susan G. Komen affiliate in my state I can understand what a drain on the body this can be.
Bob
Looks like getting an electric Hot water tank would be less expensive.
The owner of the furnace installer just called. He is coming over and putting emit control check and will be over in afew minutes.
Then when I can affford it put the radon emit system in. They would be covering the basement floor with the plastic because of the radon. At the time putting in the rest of the cement floor as a package deal. That way they can put in the underground piping needed and work on an escape vent location that would work. I don't know but possible the dividing wall between living room and bedroom might go all the way to the attic. Maybe that would also handle the mold.
Now what to do with the stuff in the basement. With Cancer I don't do much in the line of moving things.
Thanks! I will keep Money Pit up on my progress locally. You want me to contact them? So do you have any more ideas? Or another way to contact you? Best contact through Money Pit right?
You provided me with lots of good information.
Heat and AC system. The AC system you have in the house is a self contained unit. So is the heating system. The only common part is the duct system. When you shutter off the ducts and open others you are in effect changing from AC mode to Heating mode. This has been done that way because many years ago the house did not have a furnace that would handle an AC system so they needed to bring a complete unit in. So instead of replacing the heating system at that time they simply installed a by pass duct system. This has nothing to do with the issue at hand. Although its very inefficient and is something you need to consider if your cooling bills are high.
The air that you felt on your face by the top of the door is a bit of a concern, What this is telling me is that your duct system that brings the air back to the furnace for heating is undersized.
The air that is blowing out of the grills in the living area should be matched by the air going back to the furnace through the return air grills. When air is being pulled down the stairs, which you felt when you checked the flow by opening the door slightly, tells me that your return air flow is lacking in the living area and its drawing air from the basement in order to deliver the air to the furnace that it needs to properly work.
Another concern I have is that the hot water heater is not drawing air up the chimney as it should. When you place the smoke near the draft hood, which is that funnel shaped item where the flue pipe connects on top of the heater. It should be pulled into that area after about 60 seconds of running. This tells me that some of the combustion by products are not going up the chimney. This can result in some of the combustion odors that you believe you are smelling. But this is not the entire story. As the hot water heater does not run all the time and your furnace does turn on and off as it keeps the house warm. The smell must be a more continuous source then just the water heater exhaust system.
What interests me is that you have a old basement with rock foundation, part cement and soil floor. I believe a lot of the odors that your smelling are coming from the damp exposed soil and from around the foundation walls.
A lot of mold can develop as a result with this type of construction. With the addition of a new furnace with a much more powerful blower and the lack of proper air flow back to the furnace for correct operation. You in effect are pulling air from the damp basement which will contain all sorts of odor sources that when heated can smell totally different then that of what you smell in the basement. Add to that I am sure the return duct system is not doing its job as it should, being leaky and all. This is only aggravating the issue even more.
My suggestion is that the hot water heater must be evaluated by the gas company for proper drafting. Be prepared however to take on the responsibility to have a new chimney liner installed. They will provide you or should provide you with a warning and give you a set amount of time to get this repaired or they will turn off the gas to that appliance but not the whole house. A new liner runs around $1,200 installed. Perhaps less or more depending on your area and size of your chimney. A new power vent hot water heater venting out the side of the house without using the chimney at all is about twice that much. Forget about on demand hot water heater. Its way to expensive to install if your on a budget and the type of water you have will make it a maintenance nightmare.
You need to get the basement floors sealed. Vinyl liner systems can be installed over the floor to seal out any odors that are coming up from the soil below. Also you need to address the negative air pressure in the basement. Duct sealing on the return side of the furnace is strongly suggested. Doing so will allow more pull through the ducts from the living area of the home and not from the basement side.
I do not believe your home is suffering from fumes from combustion process as you first thought. I think overall its the conditions within the basement that are pulling odors out of the floor and walls. And I think your attention should be towards this area. Your heating professionals I am sure even if you do not trust them are most likely correct in saying that your not getting this odor from a cracked heat exchanger. If they really felt this was the case I am sure they would have investigated it and repaired this issue if indeed it was the case.
Also if you have a septic system and it has not been checked in the past few years. I suggest that this be done as well. A septic contractor or a plumber can use a pipe camera to check for any damage due to rotted pipes under the floor that could be releasing odors into the soil below the home. Older homes such as yours can suffer from cracked drainage pipes that can result in all sorts of odors.
Sorry didn't mean cement house. Brick home with the old rock foundation. Part cement floor and part dirt. Some of the walls in the basement have been cemented. The old cole shute storage area is cemented walls and some of the interwalls have cement. On the most part the basement has that old rock foundation.
I have been told this house may have been used for the underground railroad. So may have a tunnel coming up to that back room. I know it is at least 160 years old or older…
Being it was nice kinda nice out side I aired the house out this morning.
Then went down after turning the furnace back on this afternoon. Then turned the hot water tank up to heat as well. Both the furnace and hot water tank are center of the north wall. The hot water tank is closes to the wall. I used the scent sticks. No smoke would go into the piping above the hot water tank unless it was right over the hole. Went over to the draft area with the sticks the smoke stayed in the area or stayed in hole. I laid the stick into the center of the room about 4 foot high. The smoke went south to the area of the kitchen southern vent. There is a lot of piping in that area to see where it was going. Went up to the inside basement door with the sticks the smoke went down the stairs when the furnace was running. Also, went down into the basement standing up stairs at the door.
I turned the hot water tank down alittle and waited for it to stop. It ran longer than the furnace did. When it stopped it drained hot water out the side release valve. I had not seen it do that before. So I turned on the dehumifier and the sticks smoke went to the direction of the dehumifier which is center of the room. But the furnace was still off.
I have three windows 12" x 24" on the south side of the basement and one window boarded up for the air conditioner. Also, door that goes outside and small vent window and dryer are on the South east corner. Being it is a cement house it is very enclosed to get any air into or out of the basement.
When they put the new furnace in they left the ducts and old air conditioner. So they adapted this furnace to what was here. I have a very, very old air conditioner outside my bedroom window. I call it my coffin because it is huge I have never measured it but it is about 3 ft wide x 5 ft long x 4 ft high. It has two units about 12 inches dia. that run in/out the house. One is the in let and one is the outlet.
Line #1 That is were I am confused. When I get ready to use the airconditioner I move a thin board off the inside intake 12X12" and the air comes in. That is the air conditioners only opening on that line to that floor vent that the air goes into. It goes to the vent that has the filter on in coming into the bottom of the furnace. That is the vent that the inside air for the furnace comes from That is that center hole in the floor 12" x 24" grate.
Line #2 That line I have to remove the insulation out of that through a hatch I unscrew in the basement. It supplies two vents from the inside my bathroom and south kitchen vent both small vents. I plug that line in the winter on the airconditioner side. I open it in the summer it is the out take line to the air conditioner. It is one of those 8"x 12" rectangler sheetmetal that goes across over half the length of the house that come out of the top of the furnace. I don't know how long they have had air conditioners, but this must be one of the oldest. That is the only two lines I know about that goes to that airconditioner. Those are the lines I found water in when I was putting that inlet piping in on 1/1/2012.
So that is the air conditioner I have.
As for the furnace it is a Bryant I think no name on it.
Model # 340AAV036080AASA
I can feel a slight breeze on my face with the door closed and then opened a crack of 1".
Today I did by accident cover that intake in the floors house vent. I had that EdenPURE on it with a card table on the floor. Because of my medical condition I work a Home Based Business out of my home. I couldn't figure out why it sounds like the furnace was laboring. It wasn't gettting any air from the floor vent. When I figured it out the card table was heavy and the air conditioner board was letting air from the outside into the house. The furnace didn't stop it just kept right on running, but sounded like it was laboring. I was working and couldn't get away to check on it for awhile.
One of the last things I have also done was put in double pane windows in this house. I have one window that does condensate that is that window in my bedroom near the airconditioner. I am suppose to have them repair it but haven't done that yet. That is the area above the air conditioners vents I emptied out on 1/1/2012. When they were putting the window in the guy that was putting it is was laughing about the window. He shouted at one of the guys and couldn't understand what he was saying. He seen me standing in the bedroom door looking at him and he hurried up and put the window in. It is the only one that sweats and did smell in that area. I don't notice the smell any more or at least it isn't as strong of a smell.
The water heater I have has an electrical start. I was talking to the heater guy about another heater. We live in a very mineral water supply. In the old days there were sulfur baths in the area. If I don't remove the water filter every two months the sinks get a redish brown ring and the water smells. The outlet pipe in the tub gets horrible looking. I have never drained the tank in this heater to get that junk out of the bottom of the tank. I hear you should, but have been afraid to do it. I ask about a tankless. He said I live alone and don't use the water enough for the cost of the upkeep of cleaning the coils that need to be done in this region. My best bet would be it put in a electrial hot water tank and get away from the gas. The only problem is this house also has electical problems. I need a new box and some of the lines need to be separated there is a lot of piggy backing that is done on the lines.
Just like a car you fix one thing and another part goes.
OK, you gave me a lot to respond to.
The first is the radon. A radon system should not effect the basement enough to make any real difference in the draft of the furnace or the hot water heater. Your home simply because of its age is way to drafty.
Radon fan system is Sub-Slab. Meaning they install the pipe into a hole that they create in the floor of the basement. Then run a four inch pipe up and out of the side of the house. Once outside they install a all weather fan at that point then continue the fan discharge up to above the soffit area of the house. the pipe can run inside but the fan then must be above the highest living level of the home which is normally the attic.
Now for CO issues with furnace. When a furnace runs and the blower is pushing air into the house out the ducts. It creates a positive pressure against the heat exchanger in the unit. In addition the fan that operates and supplies the furnace with fresh air in from the outside then back to the outside is creating a negative pressure which draws the flue gasses out of the heat exchanger. If the fan pushed the flue gasses into the heat exchanger it would become quite hot as a result. So the fan works after the furnace exhaust temp is low enough so it would not overheat or melt the fan system. So the pressure of the air stream from the main blower and the negative pressure from the exhaust fan it is very unlikely that flue gasses are getting into the air stream when the furnace is running. Also if this did occur the safety controls built into the furnace would be shutting the furnace down. There are pressure sensors that monitor the pressure of the inlet and outlet side of the combustion system. If something was amiss, it would sense this and turn the furnace off. Sealed combustion systems such as the one you have contain many safety features just for this reason.
Can you provide me with the manufacture of the furnace and its model number? Knowing this can help me answer more questions on what you have going on there.
Another question I have is, Are you experiencing any excessive moisture issues in the home? Such as condensation on window glass?
There are two types of on demand water heaters, One is all electrical the other is gas with an electrical source to ignite the flame when you need hot water.
The electrical unit is very costly to operate and wire. You need a lot of power to run this type of heater. But its the only one that does not need vent.
The gas unit much like the furnace has an intake and exhaust pipe that must be connected to the outside. You do not connect the exhaust to chimney, but directly out the side of the house.
I am a bit confused about this following statement….
"The furnace has the outside enclosed unit in and out. But the inside flow is through the air conditioner intake unit to the furnace. So it pulls the draft inside the house from right in the center of my house on the main floor goes though the furnace and out the ducts. So that would cause a negative flow to the hot water tank"
So let me understand this a bit better.
You have both a furnace and some sort of central cooling system?
The cooling system is connected to the furnace through a set of small copper pipes?
The furnace has both a return duct which comes from somewhere perhaps the floor of the house and connects to the bottom side of the furnace?
The furnace other duct system comes off the top and through a box that the AC pipes run into, then out the top or sides of that to the outlet grills in the home?
If that is what you have, a few things can draw CO into the home or create a down draft on the hot water heater.
If the return duct system is undersized and the quality of the duct system is poor, the furnace starves for air to come into it. The result is if it cannot get the air from the living area of the home, it pulls in from the basement through the leaks in the return duct system. The result can cause down drafts and poor drafting overall on the hot water heater.
You can do another test for me real fast. Turn on the furnace and wait for the fan to turn on. Stand at the top of the basement stairs on the basement side of the door. Close the door and wait about 30 seconds. Then very slowly open the door about one inch. Do you feel air blowing into your face? Let me know what happens.
Hang in there will will figure out what is needed to fix this issue. It may take a few tries, but with your help we will figure it out together.
I will reread your advise and will get back to it this weekend. I will also go down and turn the hot water heater down again. To slow it's exhaust.
I picked up an EdenPURE 1000 today and if it is able to handle the temp heating until I get the fumes taken care of that will help. A brick home is a problem for a temp heat source. So far a ceramic heater is the only thing that has given exceptable alternate heat but only one level of home or room area. So I will try this EdenPURE so I am not living in fumes during the night and day. I did get rid of the head aches changing the piping buyt not smelling the exhaust, my eyes are still burning like crazy.
I had a family emergency so that has taken up a large part of my time since this last weekend. I may not be able to solve that emergency and I can get back to this home problem. I have been out of the house more and my eyes have been feeling better.
That is why I had the hot water heater checked to see if it was legal and correct because I notice they had removed the furnace venting from the chimney. The chimney was clear and no obstructions. The chimney sweep and hot water mechanic I had in said the draft could be stronger for the hot water tank. I have used a match trying to check it out. Also, the hot water mechanic wondered if the pipe to the chimney seemed to be too long. I had thought of putting a 90 on it to have it head up the chimney not straight across to the back of the chimney. To me it seemed to be directed to the lower hole to the draft.
I have an analytical mind and my analysis of the problem has been for a long time that. 1) It was a crack in the furnace somewhere close to the box that puts the air into the house. That was why it leaked water when they first put it in or 2) the hot water tanks vent was not getting enough draft.
That is really what I understand you have decided that my thoughts were correct from the beginning.
This weekend I will have time to do a negative pressure test on the house. I will pick up some incense. That will give me also a different odor to smell if that is what is going on. I wished I had the money for the radon fan to be put in. I checked on that before I found out I had cancer that the radon was so high in this house. I just didn't think of a negative air flow of being a test on that water heater. That would take the flow away from the chimney and maybe that is what the furnace is doing to the hot water tank. Radon fan would add to the problem if it is the hot water tank.
The furnace has the outside inclosed unit in and out. But the inside flow is through the air conditioner intake unit to the furnace. So it pulls the draft inside the house from right in the center of my house on the main floor goes though the furnace and out the ducts. So that would cause a negative flow to the hot water tank.
That means my analysis #2 that the hot water tank doesn't have enough draft. I will check it this weekend and pick up incense. So if it is the hot water tank the problem of drafting back in to the house. Am I looking at a large additional cost or being I have a radon problem could that be set up to draft out the chimney?
So a radon unit is additional negative flow that I am going to have to add sometime or is that simular to the power vented unit you were talking about? Is that an open unit.
I think my thinking and brain function is coming back maybe this gas/fumes hasn't killed all my brain cells. With this throwing up, headaches and my being pale of a morning since putting in this furnace is because of negative ventation. I am 60+ and not PG. I have only felt like that when I was PG.
Sorry my brains working overtime with this information. Now I wish I had put in a tankless hot water heater. Just didn't know if a electric or gas was better I ask the guys in the Lowe's store. But the guys at the store said they weren't that good that was 6 or so years ago. Tankless don't have to be vented do they?
If I could vent through the chimney for the radon could I kill two birds with one stone. Or would that kill me instead. A Radon fan would put more negative ventation in the house also the guy I had check the radon really didn't know how he would be able to do it in my house unless he went all the way across the house. Then exhaust the fan out the basement door area.
As for moisture in the basement. Once I covered the holes around the in and out take vents of the furnace that they left exposed when they put those lines in. I haven't had water in the basement. I mopped out 17 buckets of water out of the basement in one night on a bad storm we had. It was also a 5 gallon bucket I was using. So I got a Drill Pump and have been waiting since I cemented the PCV pipes from leaking. I also, put a drain line outside the house heading away from the house. So there are no leaks or water in the basement since. I also have a dehumifier in the basement I haven't had to use since I finally got it dry. So the basement smells better. Also, after putting in the intake line to the other side of the house. I noticed that the 12 inch intake and outtake lines to the airconditioner was heavy. I dumped that water out of those lines and no more water odors in my bedroom as well.
My air conditioner is a coffin outside my bedroom window. I plan to have that disconnected and a window unit put in. My house is only 900 sq ft. I figured that would lower the cost and then use the fan unit on the furnace to move the air around the house that way.
Humidifier on the furnace? I thought it was wet enough that was what the water pump was for on the side of the furnace. As for the AC did I explain that good enough?
As for the furnace filters I was using those thick ones and the furnace guy said that restricted the flow of air to go back to the cheap filters that are thinner and change them more often.
Thanks for helping me with this issue. The guys around here were making me wonder if the issues with the house was me. I have a very sensitive nose and knew I had a problem just couldn't get the locals to find it without them looking at me weird.
Like my cat staying near the open window and not on my lap.
OK, You have a condensing furnace. Top of the line style in efficiency. The moving of the fresh air supply to the other side of the house will make no difference but this is fine what you did.
The heat exchanger I doubt is the issue. it is very rare that they fail so early in their life span. And besides the heat exchanger is under positive pressure when the blower fan runs so its very doubtful if your getting any odor from this source.
There is another fuel source in the basement and that is the hot water heater. This device oftentimes becomes orphaned when it no longer shares the flue pipe with the furnace. To understand this you must understand how a chimney flue pipe is sized. The HVAC engineer sizes the chimney based on the amount of BTU's that is generated by every appliance that is connected to the chimney. In your case, the furnace and hot water heater. The combined units when running produce enough heat up the chimney to draw the flue gasses up and out of the house through the roof. When a new furnace is installed as in your case, one with its own powered venting system which no longer requires the use of the chimney. This leaves the hot water heater by itself, or Orphaned. Now that the hot water heater is no longer sharing the same flue as the furnace, the sizing of the chimney must be made smaller to allow for proper draft. You can check this yourself with a mirror. If you turn on all of the fans in the house. Bath, kitchen exhaust if it vents outside. and the dryer you will create a negative pressure within the basement. Now turn on the furnace so it begins to run. You then need to close the door to the basement next. After about one minute, turn the hot water heater up on the control so it fires. Place the mirror next to the flue pipe opening at the top of the hot water heater just below where the flue pipe connects. Or if you have incense sticks these will work as well by putting them in the same spot. Within 60 seconds you should see no steam on the mirror, or if you used the incense sticks you should see the tiny smoke generated being pulled into the opening. If this is not occurring you have a back draft condition that could be causing your issue. The hot flue gasses that are supposed to go up the chimney are not doingg this so therefore your getting your smell from that.
If the flue gasses are going up the chimney this proves that you have enough draft and the hot water heater is not the issue.
In any case the recent codes require that all orphaned hot water heaters be installed into a new chimney liner designed exactly for the sizing of the heater on its own. Or a power vented unit, or a direct vent unit be installed much like your new furnace.
If this does not answer your issue if you do have proper draft when tested as I have described, We will move onto the next item that can be causing this. And that is duct work issues.
If the return duct in the basement is panned, meaning they use the framing of the flooring as part of the duct system, you may be drawing smelly air from within the basement. If there is any mold issues in the basement these smells can be drawn into the duct system causing your issue.
Also if the furnace is sitting on a basement floor that has water issues, or is in an environment that is damp that too can cause all sorts of odors.
In any case, try testing the flue system as I told you for the hot water heater so this can be ruled out. If it passes the test, let me know and I will work up some other ideas for you to look into.
In the meantime, do you have a humidifier installed on the furnace? If so what brand and type do you have? If there is a model number please provide this as well. Do you have central AC connected to the furnace also? The last question would be what type of filter do you use? Is it the one inch thick one? Or do you have something better then that?
Do not worry we will get to the bottom of your issue.
This a high effiency system. When they put it in they removed the old exhaust that went out the chimney. This one has a water pump on the side. It plastic vents to the outside of the house. That is were I changed it from both piping inlet and outlet next to each other. I moved the inlet to the other side of the house to inlet the house that got rid of the gas fumes, but not the exhaust fumes. I think it may be the heat exchanger, but it is not shuting the furnace down. I smell it at the beginning before the fan kicks in and then after the fan goes on I can't tell if the smell is a continuation after the fan kicks in .
I do have co meters but they are not alarming so it must be miniumal. For those location. I have floor and 2 ft level plug ins.