Pics or diagrams?

Air intake for what?

Fresh air intake for combustible appliances like your furnace is different than fresh air intake for a ERV for the home is FAR different than air intake to vent your attic and roof spaces. You will need to be more specific.

A window in the chimney?!?

The air intake is for the HRV.
I will try to upload a sketch later today, I was told it would resemble a small gable vent.
We are working out make-up air for the stove and gas dryer but I think we have a location close to ground for that. HRV will be in upstairs closet so we're trying to get a run that is not too long.

Here is the sketch of the intake vent on the chimney area. Annie, I suppose the window technically is between the two stacks, even though the whole area is covered with the stone veneer.

{{gwi:1397742}}

That window in the chimney is very bizarre. If you're keeping it then it probably doesn't matter what else you do to it.

Please tell me that this is still in the design phase!

Okay, we're rocking up the window ;-)

Any ideas on the air intake?

This post was edited by Oaktown on Sat, Jan 25, 14 at 22:20

Do you have any other gables than the chimney sides?

BTW is the rock just floating out on the wall there? I would make sure it looks like it is fully connected to the stone below as the picture looks like it is just floating which is not something you expect stone to do.

This post was edited by lyfia on Sun, Jan 26, 14 at 9:25

No other gables, the house is a rectangle.
The chimney goes all the way down and is slightly canted so that is a bit deeper at the base. The porch roof goes around the chimney.

Can you create another fake chimney in the middle? Or place a regular vent on the back side where it wouldn't be visible from the road?

Hmm lyfia, probably too many chimneys but maybe a cupola?

Not so concerned about the view from the road since there are lots of trees, it's more how it looks from the yard. There's really no good location where it would be hidden, so I think disguised is better.

Much ado about nothing as long as the vent is not in striking contrast with the facade it's placed on. For instance, not white plastic on red brick.

That window in the middle of a stone chimney was sure interesting.

Air intakes and exhausts are so common that people ignore them. The trick is to not hide them in elaborate ways, just make them very dull and boring.

If you had a plain gable end, not that faux castle thing, a vent that matched the siding would be overlooked.

Maybe moving the air exchanger location so it doesn't clash with the exhausts from appliances would be easier.

Code covers this more than aesthetics. It must be 10' away from the exhaust. Once you satisfy that requirement, then aesthetics comes on board. A plain vent on the side of the shed dormer (?) might be the best option. It is going to need to be rather large to satisfy most MUA requirements.

Couldn't you have the air intake mounted under the soffit? Match the color to your trim and no one sees it. If a soffit vent isn't big enough, pipe two together to get the CFM you need.

If you're going the soffit route consider this advice from Armin Rudd of Building Science Corp.:

Also, the soffits are not the easiest place to access for regular cleaning required of such vents.

Yeah lazy gardens, I would have liked a plain gable end but had a daylight plane issue. So it is a multipurpose chimney! Probably too late to relocate the HRV at this point . . .
Perhaps if we add back the window we could put it in the ceiling of the window well, that way we'd have easy access for cleaning ;-)

Mechanical vents allow products of combustion from a gas appliance to leave a house. When the vent is from a gas fireplace it is often double walled so it can also bring combustion air to the appliance.

Mechanical exhausts allow air from kitchens, bathrooms and dryers to be transferred to the outside.

I see what appears to be an air intake and the caps of two gas fireplace vents. Where is the exhaust and what does it serve?

Hi Renovator8,
The "gas fireplace vents" on each of the gable ends house the various exhausts (except the dryer vent which comes out of the foundation). We do not have an indoor fireplace. Ideally, these, the dormers, and possibly a ridge vent will be the only roof penetrations.

M1602.2 Prohibited sources.
Outdoor and return air for a forced-air heating or cooling system shall not be taken from the following locations:

1. Closer than 10 feet to an appliance vent outlet, a vent opening from a plumbing drainage system or the discharge outlet of an exhaust fan, unless the outlet is 3 feet above the outside air inlet.

Would an HRV intake need to be cleaned regularly? This isn't a dryer exhaust, but replacement air for the HVAC system. I would not suggest the soffit for a combustion exhaust, but for a ceiling fan or intake, I don't understand the problem? Worthy's link only says that it's not recommended, and I think that mostly stems from possible blockage with insulation and/or the extra 90 degree turn in the vent line. Not that there is an inherent problem with doing it.

Okay, we're looking at a number of different locations now, including the soffit of the porch roof and the side of the dormer. The porch roof soffit definitely would provide easier cleaning access, but using either of those locations would mean we'd need to fur out a couple of walls upstairs. So, we might just end up with the louvered grill in the chimney :-(

Oh well, first world problems. . .

Maybe the soffit route, done well, is worth pursuing, considering the effort spent to group all of the outlets in the chimneys.

It's always nice when owners, architects, engineers, and builders consider the placement of roof penetrations (also interior HVAC ducts & terminals, sprinkler heads, etc.) and not leaving it to the whims of an individual HVAC or plumbing tradesperson who may not be considering the aesthetic implications--likely not being aware of the overall design.

I'm glad you might delete the chimney window. I remember your earlier posts showing the rest of the house--I recall thinking it was well-thought-out. Can you post or link back to some of your other elevations or 3D? It might help generate some other suggestions.

Also, I'm curious if you chose a roof color... (maybe trade those chimneys for that zinc roof you coveted :)

Building Science Corp says:

"Running ventilation ducts through the eave soffit is not recommended.

If the outside air intake or exhaust outlet are run through the eave soffit instead of through the sidewall, specific care must be taken to:

- not crush the ventilation ducts between the wall top plate and the roof sheathing;

- leave the full depth of ceiling insulation in place; and

- fully terminate the ducts through the finished soffit to outdoors so that air flow is not restricted and air leakage to/from the attic will not occur."

worthy and Renovator8, we will keep those guidelines in mind if we go the soffit route. I *think* the porch ceiling soffit basically would be a sidewall installation, since the porch is applied and the soffit is not insulated. Conceptually the ducting would come out of the sidewall of an upstairs room, and only would turn to terminate in the porch ceiling because we decided to have a ceiling rather than open rafters. In practice we're not sure yet whether there's enough room to do this. All of the options are still open.

Appreciate all of the ideas.