Plumbing through heating vents
 

I'm looking at purchasing a house with a basement, and If I do, I think I'll put a large sump in the basement. Rather than drilling through the flooring, is it reasonable to route plumbing through heating vents? Part of me thinks that any increase in heat will be offset by having the sump in a cool basement, but I'm not really sure. I'm in Southern Michigan, if that makes a difference. If this isnt possible, are there any other ways to have a sump in the basement without drilling through the flooring?

You have to get to the space below somehow & the floor is the easiest.
A friend did just that, used a heating sized hole in the floor. HOWEVER, there is nothing else used in that space. He found it easier to run multiple hoses through the opening rather than a circular hole.
I would think it's possible but troublesome.

I did exactly that. There was a flexible line to the vent off the main header in the basement. I disconnected the flex and capped it off. I then purchased a plastic vent from Home Depot and used hole saws to cut a 3/4 & 1" hole in the vent, then ran the flex PVC line thru to the tank. There are three other vents in the room and we don't notice a difference in the heat or AC.

Just drill the holes you need close together, then if you tear down the reef, you can cut a rectangular hole and just put in a grill as if there was ductwork behind it. Just buy the grill as soon as you can so it will match the rest in the room, and just wrap it up and put is in the stand. Then when you tear the tank down or move you have a easy fix to the hole in the floor / carpeting.


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Another option is to cut open the wall drywall & drill thu the 2X4 wall floor plate to the basement, this way no harm is done to the floor and is easy to repair if removed, its 10 times easier to repair drywall then a floor. I'm a contractor you can trust me on this one. Plus, nobody likes fake holes in the floor of a home they are contemplating purchasing.

That!!! ^^^^

We run a quarter-inch topoff tube through the hvac grating to our freshwater tank. Fill the 5 gallon bucket in the basement, go upstairs, tell Alexa to turn on the topoff pump, and we sit and sip coffee instead of hauling water up by hand. Our saltwater rig is more techie, but the on-demand fill of the freshwater's evap works just fine.