Patent ID: 6951241

Claim:
A method for eliminating the use of an auxiliary cooling fan and for cooling a motor of a blower assembly used to expel exhaust gases from a furnace, the blower assembly having a motor housing for enclosing the motor and an impeller housing fixed to the motor housing that receives an impeller mounted to a motor shaft of the motor, the method comprising the steps of: forming at least one vent aperture in the motor housing at an outer end of the motor housing spaced from the impeller housing such that cooling air can enter the motor housing through the at least one vent aperture and pass over the motor; closely mounting the motor housing to the impeller housing such that cooling air can enter the motor housing only through the at least one vent aperture; forming an inlet port between the motor housing and the impeller housing such that cooling air can enter the impeller housing directly from the motor housing only through the inlet port; forming at least one aperture in a back plate of the impeller such that cooling air can pass through the back plate of the impeller; and rotating the impeller to both draw cooling air into the motor housing through the vent aperture formed at the outer end of the motor housing such that the cooling air is drawn over the motor and into the impeller housing to cool the motor and to draw exhaust gases into the impeller housing from the furnace through an exhaust gas inlet formed in the impeller housing, wherein the rotating impeller expels both the cooling air and the exhaust gas from the impeller housing through an outlet pipe.