Stupid home furnace question

Factual Questions
1

No it’s not my furnace that’s stupid, it’s me. Here’s the issue.

Had the gas company come out today to do a routine inspection of my gas appliances. One thing they did is remove the two coverings from my gas furnace to check out how it was working, and while they had the covers off I figured I’d change the air filter.

Now the gas tech told me that one of the panels was a little loose and I had to make sure it was tight and sealed to make sure carbon monoxide didn’t escape into the house.

Except now that the gas tech is gone, I can’t remember which panel goes on top and which goes on the bottom of the unit! And as one panel is solid and the other is vented, it clearly makes a HUGE difference. I’m constantly second guessing my self as I’m not paranoid that I’m going to asphyxiate all of us in the house.

So I need help determining which panel goes where. And I know next to nothing about furnaces.

Details:

Two metal panels, same exact size. One is solid, the other has a series of horizontal vents. One of them goes on top half of the furnace, the other goes directly underneath.

Now the top half is the half with the burners. Furnace kicks on, electronic ignition kicks in and lights the gas, and four intense flames heat the air. I ASSUME that’s the door half that is supposed to be vented??

The bottom half sits on top of a hole in the floor that the air comes through (yes, there’s a duct there), and the air filter sits on top of the hole. I ASSUME that’s the door half that is supposed to be solid??

Do I have the doors correct? Or are they completely swapped? Furnace is off until I can figure this out for sure…

2

Where is your furnace? The garage or a furnace closet?

It sounds like the return air is in the bottom. It needs to be able to pull the air throught the filter. If the solid panel will force to be pulled through the filter then it goes on the bottom.

The fire box needs fresh air for the burners. The panel with the slots are probably fresh air intakes.

3

It’s in a furnace closet in the house. Your take on it is how I put it together, which is how I thought it should go. And yes the return is in the bottom, and the fire box (so THAT’S what it’s called!) is currently set up with the fresh air vents. So when the furnace is on, you can see the flame flickering through the vents.

Sounds like I got it right, thanks!

4

In my experience with furnace reassembly, there was only one way the panels could be reassembled. To be sure and safe, I would get the furnace model number and Google away for a manual.

5

I found the manual online. And it had a detailed schematic of the furnace inside. And no mention of how the panels fit, nor drawings of the panels.

But thanks, Snnipe and Oslo!

6

The panel with the vents goes over where the burner is. the burner needs oxygen from the area surrounding the furnace to burn the natural gas.

7

Great, thanks!