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impact of having air return ducts disconnected DrHaawrd 09-23-2007
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Posted by DrHaawrd on September 23, 2007, 9:20 am
Hi,

I live in a brand new home (1 year old). The house is 2 stories and
approx 2100 sq ft and is serviced by a forced air furnace and central
air conditioning system.

Ove the course of the first year I lived in the house, I constantly
found the upstairs eithr too hot (in the summer) or too cold (in the
winter). To combat this problem I would either run the furnace or AC
for longer periods t try and affect the temperature.

I reported the propblem to the builder on numerous occassions and they
bassically brushed me off. Finally after a year of complaining, they
sent someone to investigate and it was determined that NONE of the air
return ducts were connected to the system at all.

My question is, what impact would this have on the efficiency of my
system? In other words would this reuslt in a 25% or 50% loss of
efficiency? Would I have been running my furnace or AC 25% or 50%
more to compensate for the lack of proper air circulation?

I am certain that my energy costs were increased due to this issue and
I am trying to get an understanding of how much this may have impacted
my energy billls this past year.

Any htoughts on this would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Howard


Posted by Bubba on September 23, 2007, 9:49 am
On Sun, 23 Sep 2007 06:20:07 -0700, DrHaawrd

>Hi,
>
>I live in a brand new home (1 year old). The house is 2 stories and
>approx 2100 sq ft and is serviced by a forced air furnace and central
>air conditioning system.
>
>Ove the course of the first year I lived in the house, I constantly
>found the upstairs eithr too hot (in the summer) or too cold (in the
>winter). To combat this problem I would either run the furnace or AC
>for longer periods t try and affect the temperature.
>
>I reported the propblem to the builder on numerous occassions and they
>bassically brushed me off. Finally after a year of complaining, they
>sent someone to investigate and it was determined that NONE of the air
>return ducts were connected to the system at all.
>
>My question is, what impact would this have on the efficiency of my
>system? In other words would this reuslt in a 25% or 50% loss of
>efficiency? Would I have been running my furnace or AC 25% or 50%
>more to compensate for the lack of proper air circulation?
>
>I am certain that my energy costs were increased due to this issue and
>I am trying to get an understanding of how much this may have impacted
>my energy billls this past year.
>
>Any htoughts on this would be greatly appreciated.
>
>Thanks,
>Howard

You'll have to figure out how much money you want to fuque out of your
builder on your own.
My concern would be concentrated on getting it fixed and getting it
fixed right.
Bubba

Posted by on September 23, 2007, 10:49 am

> Hi,
>
> I live in a brand new home (1 year old). The house is 2 stories and
> approx 2100 sq ft and is serviced by a forced air furnace and central
> air conditioning system.
>
> Ove the course of the first year I lived in the house, I constantly
> found the upstairs eithr too hot (in the summer) or too cold (in the
> winter). To combat this problem I would either run the furnace or AC
> for longer periods t try and affect the temperature.
>
> I reported the propblem to the builder on numerous occassions and they
> bassically brushed me off. Finally after a year of complaining, they
> sent someone to investigate and it was determined that NONE of the air
> return ducts were connected to the system at all.
>
> My question is, what impact would this have on the efficiency of my
> system? In other words would this reuslt in a 25% or 50% loss of
> efficiency? Would I have been running my furnace or AC 25% or 50%
> more to compensate for the lack of proper air circulation?
>
> I am certain that my energy costs were increased due to this issue and
> I am trying to get an understanding of how much this may have impacted
> my energy billls this past year.
>
> Any htoughts on this would be greatly appreciated.
>
> Thanks,
> Howard


Without knowing a LOT more details and information, (at this point) the
extra cost would be a guess.
However, even if you listed all the required data, nobody here is going to
waste their time figuring it out for you. That is unless you'd like to make
a deposit in their PayPal account.



Posted by DrHaawrd on September 23, 2007, 3:16 pm

> However, even if you listed all the required data, nobody here is going to
> waste their time figuring it out for you. That is unless you'd like to make
> a deposit in their PayPal account.- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

You know, I can't stand it when smart asses like you add REAL value to
these message boards. If you have nothing positive to contribute
here, than crawl back into the cave you came from and keep your mouth
shut.

For those of who who have taken some time to try and answer my intial
question, first let me say thank you.

I can say that the builder did fix the problem as the new house is
under warranty. I am now in discussions with them regarding
reimbursing me for the increased energy costs I likely suffered as a
result of their failure to install things properly.

I am not looking for hard scientific measurements here, I just want a
ballpark estimate as to what impact the lack of a properly functioning
(i.e.: non existitent) cold air return systems would have?

Thanks again,
Howard


Posted by Zyp on September 23, 2007, 3:24 pm
DrHaawrd wrote:
>
>> However, even if you listed all the required data, nobody here is
>> going to waste their time figuring it out for you. That is unless
>> you'd like to make a deposit in their PayPal account.- Hide quoted
>> text -
>>
>> - Show quoted text -
>
> You know, I can't stand it when smart asses like you add REAL value to
> these message boards. If you have nothing positive to contribute
> here, than crawl back into the cave you came from and keep your mouth
> shut.
>
> For those of who who have taken some time to try and answer my intial
> question, first let me say thank you.
>
> I can say that the builder did fix the problem as the new house is
> under warranty. I am now in discussions with them regarding
> reimbursing me for the increased energy costs I likely suffered as a
> result of their failure to install things properly.
>
> I am not looking for hard scientific measurements here, I just want a
> ballpark estimate as to what impact the lack of a properly functioning
> (i.e.: non existitent) cold air return systems would have?
>
> Thanks again,
> Howard

Glad to hear you received some response and corrections by the builder. You
best avenue would be to consult [and pay for] consultation with an HVAC
engineer to calculate the cost(s) associated with the return(s) not being
connected.

Your associated increase in costs could be rough estimated by comparing your
energy costs with a neighbor of a simular house and family size. Generally
this isn't a recommended procedure, but could give you a ball park without
costs. Basically, ask your neighbor what his summer cost was.

--
Zyp



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