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Worth adding cold-air return? dean 03-07-2007
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Posted by dean on March 7, 2007, 12:07 am


Hello all,

I have a wood furnace in my basement with central forced air, and
right now (all winter so far) I have been leaving the basement door
open so that the cold air return is sucked down the stairs.

I'm considering connecting up the returns to the furnace so as to make
a closed system, and I wanted to know if this makes much of a
difference in fuel usage and/or house temperatures. Right now, the
furnace has a struggle with a 50-degree difference outside vs. inside,
so if its 20F outside, I can almost not reach 70F inside.

Any experiences welcomed here.

Thanks

DeanB


Posted by trbo20 on March 7, 2007, 9:38 am


> Hello all,
>
> I have a wood furnace in my basement with central forced air, and
> right now (all winter so far) I have been leaving the basement door
> open so that the cold air return is sucked down the stairs.
>
> I'm considering connecting up the returns to the furnace so as to make
> a closed system, and I wanted to know if this makes much of a
> difference in fuel usage and/or house temperatures. Right now, the
> furnace has a struggle with a 50-degree difference outside vs. inside,
> so if its 20F outside, I can almost not reach 70F inside.
>
> Any experiences welcomed here.
>
> Thanks
>
> DeanB

There are so many variables to consider here that I don't think anyone
will be able to answer your question by comparing their own
experiences. How well insulated is your basement from the rest of the
house? How well insulated is your basement from the outside? How far
with the air returns have to run? What size ducting will you use?
How well insulated is your house? What is the level of difficulty in
installing the ducts? What is the air volume of your basement as
compared to the volume of your house? What would be the total cost of
installing the returns?

If the duct is just a straight shot up from the furnace into the floor
above, then that would be both easy and cheap to install. Consider,
however, that the temperature difference at the surface of the floor
and the basement ceiling probably isn't going to be all that much.

Some of these questions can't ever be answered with a high degree of
precision. If you really want an accurate projection on your ROI for
this project, I'd talk to a qualified HVAC consultant who can do an on
site inspection

With that said, also don't forget that if your basement is very poorly
insulated and dips below freezing, you risk rupturing your pipes, or
ruining any stored materials such as latex paint.



Posted by on March 7, 2007, 9:52 am


>
>
>
>
>
> > Hello all,
>
> > I have a wood furnace in my basement with central forced air, and
> > right now (all winter so far) I have been leaving the basement door
> > open so that the cold air return is sucked down the stairs.
>
> > I'm considering connecting up the returns to the furnace so as to make
> > a closed system, and I wanted to know if this makes much of a
> > difference in fuel usage and/or house temperatures. Right now, the
> > furnace has a struggle with a 50-degree difference outside vs. inside,
> > so if its 20F outside, I can almost not reach 70F inside.
>
> > Any experiences welcomed here.
>
> > Thanks
>
> > DeanB
>
> There are so many variables to consider here that I don't think anyone
> will be able to answer your question by comparing their own
> experiences. How well insulated is your basement from the rest of the
> house? How well insulated is your basement from the outside? How far
> with the air returns have to run? What size ducting will you use?
> How well insulated is your house? What is the level of difficulty in
> installing the ducts? What is the air volume of your basement as
> compared to the volume of your house? What would be the total cost of
> installing the returns?
>
> If the duct is just a straight shot up from the furnace into the floor
> above, then that would be both easy and cheap to install. Consider,
> however, that the temperature difference at the surface of the floor
> and the basement ceiling probably isn't going to be all that much.
>
> Some of these questions can't ever be answered with a high degree of
> precision. If you really want an accurate projection on your ROI for
> this project, I'd talk to a qualified HVAC consultant who can do an on
> site inspection
>
> With that said, also don't forget that if your basement is very poorly
> insulated and dips below freezing, you risk rupturing your pipes, or
> ruining any stored materials such as latex paint.- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -


As said, based on that limited info, no one can give you an answer.
But if your furnace can't maintain 70 when it's 20 outside, something
is wrong and I doubt a return is going to do much to solve it. Is
the furnace running continously?


Posted by 3G on March 8, 2007, 5:36 am



| >
| >
| >
| >
| >
| > > Hello all,
| >
| > > I have a wood furnace in my basement with central forced air, and
| > > right now (all winter so far) I have been leaving the basement
door
| > > open so that the cold air return is sucked down the stairs.
| >
| > > I'm considering connecting up the returns to the furnace so as to
make
| > > a closed system, and I wanted to know if this makes much of a
| > > difference in fuel usage and/or house temperatures. Right now, the
| > > furnace has a struggle with a 50-degree difference outside vs.
inside,
| > > so if its 20F outside, I can almost not reach 70F inside.
| >
| > > Any experiences welcomed here.
| >
| > > Thanks
| >
| > > DeanB
| >
| > There are so many variables to consider here that I don't think
anyone
| > will be able to answer your question by comparing their own
| > experiences. How well insulated is your basement from the rest of
the
| > house? How well insulated is your basement from the outside? How
far
| > with the air returns have to run? What size ducting will you use?
| > How well insulated is your house? What is the level of difficulty
in
| > installing the ducts? What is the air volume of your basement as
| > compared to the volume of your house? What would be the total cost
of
| > installing the returns?
| >
| > If the duct is just a straight shot up from the furnace into the
floor
| > above, then that would be both easy and cheap to install. Consider,
| > however, that the temperature difference at the surface of the floor
| > and the basement ceiling probably isn't going to be all that much.
| >
| > Some of these questions can't ever be answered with a high degree of
| > precision. If you really want an accurate projection on your ROI
for
| > this project, I'd talk to a qualified HVAC consultant who can do an
on
| > site inspection
| >
| > With that said, also don't forget that if your basement is very
poorly
| > insulated and dips below freezing, you risk rupturing your pipes, or
| > ruining any stored materials such as latex paint.- Hide quoted
text -
| >
| > - Show quoted text -
|
|
| As said, based on that limited info, no one can give you an answer.
| But if your furnace can't maintain 70 when it's 20 outside, something
| is wrong and I doubt a return is going to do much to solve it. Is
| the furnace running continously?


same problem with brand new "concord 80 plus" oil furnace (forced air)
runs continuously
heating bill is $1200 per mth. in N.E.
why can't the furnace reach 70 degrees?
it has a hard time maintaning 68 degrees over night.

insulation .................well..................none. built in 1911
returns..................yes
5000+ sq. ft. house

what size should the nozzle be?

|



Posted by Nick Hull on March 8, 2007, 7:05 am



>
> same problem with brand new "concord 80 plus" oil furnace (forced air)
> runs continuously
> heating bill is $1200 per mth. in N.E.
> why can't the furnace reach 70 degrees?
> it has a hard time maintaning 68 degrees over night.
>
> insulation .................well..................none. built in 1911
> returns..................yes
> 5000+ sq. ft. house
>
> what size should the nozzle be?

Forget the nozzle, insulate the house. Will probably pay for itself in
a year. I thought only Gore paid $1200/mo ;)
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