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Heating cooling problem JD 12-29-2007
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Posted by JD on December 29, 2007, 4:32 pm
My house was built in '72 (3 br, 2 1/2 bath). The original owner
added a 2 story addition (top part was addition to the master
bedroom). Unfortunately, he didn't put in a new furnace to take care
of the extra sq. footage. When we bought the house in '04, we put in
a new furnace (1 zone) to take care of the 3100 sq. ft. My problem is
that the master bedroom is on the top floor at the end of the house
and furtherest away from the furnace (bottom floor, opposite end). It
is always the hottest or the coldest room in the house. I've got 2
ceiling fans to help with air flow, but it's darn cold in there in the
winter. Oh, and the guy put in 4 skylights in the addition where the
bed is. We've replaced 2 of them due to the fact that he didn't put
the flashing in correctly and the old ones leaked during Gaston in
04. That's when the repair people found the on-going leaking.

My question is: Considering this guy was a DIYer who had wonderful
ideas but his implementation sucked BIG time, what can I do before I
call in the pros and spend big bucks? I have a feeling he didn't wire
things right or that maybe the duct work isn't right.

Posted by Zyp on December 29, 2007, 4:55 pm
JD wrote:
> My house was built in '72 (3 br, 2 1/2 bath). The original owner
> added a 2 story addition (top part was addition to the master
> bedroom). Unfortunately, he didn't put in a new furnace to take care
> of the extra sq. footage. When we bought the house in '04, we put in
> a new furnace (1 zone) to take care of the 3100 sq. ft. My problem is
> that the master bedroom is on the top floor at the end of the house
> and furtherest away from the furnace (bottom floor, opposite end). It
> is always the hottest or the coldest room in the house. I've got 2
> ceiling fans to help with air flow, but it's darn cold in there in the
> winter. Oh, and the guy put in 4 skylights in the addition where the
> bed is. We've replaced 2 of them due to the fact that he didn't put
> the flashing in correctly and the old ones leaked during Gaston in
> 04. That's when the repair people found the on-going leaking.
>
> My question is: Considering this guy was a DIYer who had wonderful
> ideas but his implementation sucked BIG time, what can I do before I
> call in the pros and spend big bucks? I have a feeling he didn't wire
> things right or that maybe the duct work isn't right.

Instead of "re-designing" the whole shoot'n match, why not consider a
ductless? They're realatively easy to have installed, take up little space,
solve difficult to heat / cool problems, and are extremely efficient.

You could have one condenser [outside unit] that can have two wall mounted
air handler's, one larger size for the master bedroom, and one smaller unit
for the walk in closet / bathroom area.

Consider you could just heat / cool off the maters bedroom and let the rest
of the house be on it's own. Ask you neighborhood HVAC/R professional for a
quote today.

--
Zyp



Posted by professorpaul on December 29, 2007, 5:46 pm
Well, the house I'm in now is a dual/split system. Separate heating/
cooling for upstairs versus down stairs. Works great. There is enough
heat "leakage" due to rising hot air to preclude actually having to
use the heat much in the winter upstairs. Summer, I need the cooling.
I'd go for the dual system myself. I had a somewhat similar problem
in a previous house where the master BR was over the garage. Not
enough heat in winter --- furnace was at the other end of the house.
Just added an electric heater to the BR. Closing the doors and use of
fans seemed to be Ok for cooling, however. By the time we were done,
3 of the 4 bedrooms had ceiling fans. In the new house, I got the pre-
wiring done for the fans by the builder, and put them in myself later.

Posted by Joseph Meehan on December 29, 2007, 6:54 pm
My suggestion is to call in the pro. Honestly a good pro will save you
money. Not having one is what got you into this problem to begin with. You
need someone who will do the "Manual" Calculations to measure the heating
and cooling loads as well as the needed distribution system. It is not
something that can accurately be done by guessing and certainly not by
someone without direct access to the location. If you ask about a "manual"
calculation and they say "What?" move on.

After doing the calculations and looking at the equipment you have they
can suggest what you might need to get everything working properly.

> My house was built in '72 (3 br, 2 1/2 bath). The original owner
> added a 2 story addition (top part was addition to the master
> bedroom). Unfortunately, he didn't put in a new furnace to take care
> of the extra sq. footage. When we bought the house in '04, we put in
> a new furnace (1 zone) to take care of the 3100 sq. ft. My problem is
> that the master bedroom is on the top floor at the end of the house
> and furtherest away from the furnace (bottom floor, opposite end). It
> is always the hottest or the coldest room in the house. I've got 2
> ceiling fans to help with air flow, but it's darn cold in there in the
> winter. Oh, and the guy put in 4 skylights in the addition where the
> bed is. We've replaced 2 of them due to the fact that he didn't put
> the flashing in correctly and the old ones leaked during Gaston in
> 04. That's when the repair people found the on-going leaking.
>
> My question is: Considering this guy was a DIYer who had wonderful
> ideas but his implementation sucked BIG time, what can I do before I
> call in the pros and spend big bucks? I have a feeling he didn't wire
> things right or that maybe the duct work isn't right.


--
Joseph Meehan

Dia 's Muire duit




Posted by JD on December 29, 2007, 8:26 pm
wrote:
> =EF=BF=BD =EF=BF=BD My suggestion is to call in the pro. =EF=BF=BDHonestly=
a good pro will save you
> money. =EF=BF=BDNot having one is what got you into this problem to begin =
with. =EF=BF=BDYou
> need someone who will do the "Manual" Calculations to measure the heating
> and cooling loads as well as the needed distribution system. =EF=BF=BDIt i=
s not
> something that can accurately be done by guessing and certainly not by
> someone without direct access to the location. =EF=BF=BDIf you ask about a=
"manual"
> calculation and they say "What?" move on.
>
> =EF=BF=BD =EF=BF=BD After doing the calculations and looking at the equipm=
ent you have they
> can suggest what you might need to get everything working properly.
>

We upped the SEER shortly after we bought the place. The original
owner nearly doubled the square footage in all of his additions, but
never redid the furnace/ac, so during the home inspection, the
inspector brought out that we seriously might want to consult an HVAC
pro. We did (3 of them) and all came up with the same answer - the
furnace was seriously inadaquate for the square footage of the house.
My problem is not only is our bedroom seriously under heated/cooled,
my daughter's room, which is right above the furnace, gets way too
much heat/ac. It's like it all goes to her room and then there's
nothing left by the time it gets to ours. The other 2 bedrooms (on
the front side of the house) are fine, but ours (on the back side and
out at a right angle, gets very little, if any. I also suspect our
duct work that's up in the attic needs to be rewrapped or
reinsulated. The wrapping that's on it looks like it's the original
and it's coming off.

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