Home Page link

Second Furnace in Attic?

Home| Search | About
Login Password
Register Now! Lost Password?

Building Construction - Building Construction Industry Discussions. 

Page 2 of 2       << first < 1 2 Bookmark this page:  YahooMyWeb Yahoo!  Google Google  Windows Live Favorites Windows Live  del.icio.us del.icio.us  digg digg  Add to Netscape Netscape
Subject Author Date
Second Furnace in Attic? 2LeftThumbs via HomeKB.com 10-02-2007
If you were  Registered and logged in, you could reply and use other advanced thread options
Posted by Steve on October 3, 2007, 4:41 pm
alt.building.construction:

>> I don't know how they built houses back then, but you may be able to
>> just open up the top plate and use a stud bay as a duct. Cut a hole
>> in the top plate, cut a hole in the wall near the floor, hook a duct
>> to the hole at the top, and Bob's your uncle.
>
> No No No. You can use a wall cavity space for return air but never
> for supply from a furnace. That is unless the house is too old and
> your fire insurance is paid up.

Sorry -- I never did actually SAY that this was for return air, did I. I
gotta be more careful....

--
Steve B.
New Life Home Improvement

Posted by 2LeftThumbs via HomeKB.com on October 4, 2007, 4:54 pm
THis is an interrsting idea. Leave the registers i nteh ceiling, but put the
returns down low using this method. At least this way you might get soem
circualtion of air, and the heated air might actually pass through the room
before being sucked back in the return. The master bedroom is an addition so
has drywall. The others are original, and have lath and plaster. Even
though the stud bays won't be as tight there, it still might work for the
return becasue the inlet where the grill opening is will be the path of lest
resisitance for it to suck air from.

Post about houses not being very tight back then is spot on. The whole house
is one big "ventalator." Good thing it doesn't get too cold here.

Steve wrote:
>alt.building.construction:
>
>>> I don't know how they built houses back then, but you may be able to
>>> just open up the top plate and use a stud bay as a duct. Cut a hole
>[quoted text clipped - 4 lines]
>> for supply from a furnace. That is unless the house is too old and
>> your fire insurance is paid up.
>
>Sorry -- I never did actually SAY that this was for return air, did I. I
>gotta be more careful....
>

--
Message posted via HomeKB.com
http://www.homekb.com/Uwe/Forums.aspx/construction/200710/1


Posted by Steve on October 4, 2007, 8:03 pm
alt.building.construction:
>
> Steve wrote:
>>alt.building.construction:
>>
>>>> I don't know how they built houses back then, but you may be able
>>>> to just open up the top plate and use a stud bay as a duct. Cut a
>>>> hole
>>[quoted text clipped - 4 lines]
>>> for supply from a furnace. That is unless the house is too old and
>>> your fire insurance is paid up.
>>
>>Sorry -- I never did actually SAY that this was for return air, did
>>I. I gotta be more careful....
> THis is an interrsting idea. Leave the registers i nteh ceiling, but
> put the returns down low using this method. At least this way you
> might get soem circualtion of air, and the heated air might actually
> pass through the room before being sucked back in the return. The
> master bedroom is an addition so has drywall. The others are
> original, and have lath and plaster. Even though the stud bays won't
> be as tight there, it still might work for the return becasue the
> inlet where the grill opening is will be the path of lest resisitance
> for it to suck air from.
>
> Post about houses not being very tight back then is spot on. The
> whole house is one big "ventalator." Good thing it doesn't get too
> cold here.
>

My house is built this way, at least in the master bedroom, and we stay
plenty warm. Of course, we're in Texas, so we don't have bad winters.
Interestingly, the builder put the return registers for the rest of the
house in the ceilings. Works great for AC, though. Ceiling fans do a
good job of moving the warm air back toward the floor.
--
Steve B.
New Life Home Improvement

Posted by Dennis on October 3, 2007, 6:58 pm
You have many options, but I would recommend you consider a self-contained
(through-the-wall) or packaged terminal heat pump (could be roof-mounted).
You have mild winters and they are perfect for such climate. Contact a
local, brand name HVAC professional Trane, Rheem, Goodman & Rudd, etc.).


>I recently bought a house which was built in 1924 and has been added onto
>and
> remodelled at various times since. It is in Northern California where air
> conditioning is unnecessary but heat sure comes in handy sometimes.
>
> The house is about 3400 square feet, two story with an attic and a partial
> basement and crawlspace under the rest. It has a relatively recently
> installed gas forced air furnace in the basement which is in good shape,
> and
> ducts which run from it through the basement and crawlspace to the ground
> floor rooms. There are NO ducts or registers on the second floor. This
> was
> apprently common practice around here when the house was originally
> built -
> some heat would find its way upstairs, and that was considered enough back
> in
> the day. I expect its going to get pretty frosty by modern standards
> upstairs.
>
> Question is what can I do about it and how much will it cost me. Obvious
> solution is to put a second furnace in the attic. There is good headroom
> and
> access up there so this should be feasable. Ducts fom the furnace to the
> area above each upstairs room should be pretty straightforward, but it
> gets
> complicated after that. Running ducts from the ceiling to the basebords
> will
> not be easy. It would be easy to put registers in the ceiling, but, as
> some
> have previously pointed out, heat rises, so ceiling registers will
> presumably
> give us toasty ears and frozen toes, and when in bed we will not get much
> heat at all. And even if I just put registers in the ceiling, I would
> need
> to put returns lower and put ducts in for them.
>
> Do I have to suck it up and just open up walls for ducts? Each bedroom
> has
> pretty good sized closet, maybe I could just run ducts inside those? Even
> though this would not result in ideal register placement, it would
> probably
> be better than ceiling registers and wouldn't require much tear up.
>
> Anyone have experience with the 2 inch flexible ducts designed to be used
> with high pressure fan systems? Suppossedly you can fish them through
> wall
> cavities like romex.
>
> Any other ideas? Advice on holding down costs?
>
> --
> Message posted via HomeKB.com
> http://www.homekb.com/Uwe/Forums.aspx/construction/200710/1
>
>



Posted by Bill on October 5, 2007, 1:05 pm
I would wait and see how it goes this winter.

Many people have trouble with the upstairs getting too warm! Heat does rise,
so I would bet you don't need a second furnace.


"2LeftThumbs via HomeKB.com" wrote in message
>I recently bought a house which was built in 1924 and has been added onto
>and
> remodelled at various times since. It is in Northern California where air
> conditioning is unnecessary but heat sure comes in handy sometimes.
>
> The house is about 3400 square feet, two story with an attic and a partial
> basement and crawlspace under the rest. It has a relatively recently
> installed gas forced air furnace in the basement which is in good shape,
> and
> ducts which run from it through the basement and crawlspace to the ground
> floor rooms. There are NO ducts or registers on the second floor. This
> was
> apprently common practice around here when the house was originally
> built -
> some heat would find its way upstairs, and that was considered enough back
> in
> the day. I expect its going to get pretty frosty by modern standards
> upstairs.
>
> Question is what can I do about it and how much will it cost me. Obvious
> solution is to put a second furnace in the attic. There is good headroom
> and
> access up there so this should be feasable. Ducts fom the furnace to the
> area above each upstairs room should be pretty straightforward, but it
> gets
> complicated after that. Running ducts from the ceiling to the basebords
> will
> not be easy. It would be easy to put registers in the ceiling, but, as
> some
> have previously pointed out, heat rises, so ceiling registers will
> presumably
> give us toasty ears and frozen toes, and when in bed we will not get much
> heat at all. And even if I just put registers in the ceiling, I would
> need
> to put returns lower and put ducts in for them.
>
> Do I have to suck it up and just open up walls for ducts? Each bedroom
> has
> pretty good sized closet, maybe I could just run ducts inside those? Even
> though this would not result in ideal register placement, it would
> probably
> be better than ceiling registers and wouldn't require much tear up.
>
> Anyone have experience with the 2 inch flexible ducts designed to be used
> with high pressure fan systems? Suppossedly you can fish them through
> wall
> cavities like romex.
>
> Any other ideas? Advice on holding down costs?
>



Page 2 of 2       << first < 1 2
Similar ThreadsPosted
Where to buy furnace June 15, 2008, 1:17 pm
humidifier & furnace March 12, 2007, 11:31 pm
Downflow furnace filter question May 27, 2008, 4:34 pm
fs: central air / gas furnace system - denver, colorado July 9, 2006, 2:01 pm
Re: Info on Hydronic Heating / Cooling withOUT furnace or AC December 11, 2007, 10:52 am
Re: Info on Hydronic Heating / Cooling withOUT furnace or AC December 11, 2007, 2:04 pm
Re: Info on Hydronic Heating / Cooling withOUT furnace or AC December 11, 2007, 4:48 pm
Attic use September 23, 2007, 3:26 am
Re: Vent stack and furnace vent in same chase? November 15, 2006, 6:27 pm
Beeping from attic July 23, 2006, 8:06 pm

Contact Us | Privacy Policy

XML SitemapXML Sitemap