Our kids bought a 50s 60s ranch w/basement . Basement has finished family room and one bedroom. With the air conditioning running the basement gets frigid and the main floor never gets very cool with the unit running all the time. Its a force air furnace.I think it needs a cold air return in the basement but not sure how to put one in safely so as not to create a problem with carbon monoxide, it also has a gas water heater. With 6 kids they need all the help they can get. THANKS
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A return in the basement will just pull the cold air back in and make the basement super-cold.
Try this: make sure the filter is clean. Open all the registers on the main floor. Close all the registers in the basement. If that doesn't solve the problem look for air leaks in the basement. If THAT doesn't solve the problem start taping basement registers 3/4 shut. In extremis, tape+cardboard shut all the basement registers. The object of the game is to push all the cold air out of the main-floor registers and minimize the amount of cold air coming out in the basement.
In the winter you'll want to reverse the process a bit...
If it's cold in the basement that means it's leaking air into the basement. (I'm assuming that you've already shut off all registers in the basement.)
Go to the local hardware store or big box and get a roll (or two) of the foil duct tape (not the stuff Red Green uses, but foil with a backer paper you peel off).
Go around checking every joint in the ductwork. If you can feel cold air blowing out, tape it up. (In fact, tape it up even if you can't.) After two or three times around you'll notice a difference.
Note that if the basement is finished you may have to open up the walls in a few places.
Take some temps at different places.
Farthest vent upstairs from the furnace-Temp closest to the furnace vent upstairs.Farthest vent from furnace downstairs, closet etc.
Also return air temp. This is a starting point.
And you may be correct about another return air but not in the basement but upstairs.
After that It will tell us a little story.
Cheater solution -upstairs farthest room put in a sealed fan in the window pointing out.That will help exhaust some air and pull the cold air in that direction.
Note I said cheater.
Have them reinstall the furnace door. With it open, it serves as a cold return as earlier mentioned.
I'm betting the returns are all on the floor on the main floor. I have the same problem in my house. As an experiment, a couple of weeks ago I fashioned some cardboard "extension boxes" to move the entry of the returns up to chest height. They look ugly but we're leaving them in place for the rest of the summer - they actually solved the problem. Maybe next year we'll re-do the ducting so we have "summer returns" on the main floor ceiling.
Also ensure all windows are closed on the main floor. Othewise, when cold air leaks out through the basement, hot outside air will be pulled into the house.