I know this has been discussed many many times, but figured I'd try again with recent work done. We recently changed out an undersized AC return in our stove room. It's a 12" duct but for whatever reason had been reduced to an 8" grille. Our house is not an open concept at all so our stove room gets blazing at times. After replacing the grille (old size was 8x14, new is 14x20) I wanted to try again since more air should be getting pulled with the newly sized return. I turned the HVAC fan on- at the return it's just over 80*- at the far end of the house air coming out of vents is 72-74, with it being mid 30s out. Even though the air coming out is nowhere near what it would be with the heat on, rooms that typically stay cool while running the stove were much warmer. I suppose the true test will be when temps drop to the 20s however I'm pretty happy with the results thus far.
Dead horse- moving heat with HVAC
- Thread starter Egghead
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A lot of people do this, the only concern is where all your ducting is located / possible heat loss, that's really about it.
JA600L
Minister of Fire
I would think the best result would be a ceiling return and a floor supply. If your running it through the attic you should thoroughly air seal the ducts and insulate heavy over top of them.
Coog
Burning Hunk
So you are running your furnace fan all of the time? No big deal if your fan has a DC motor. Running your furnace fan 4 or 5 months on a staged ac motor can get a bit pricey. I tried running our AC furnace fan 24/7 for a while. It was loud, ineffective and not real feasible. I came to realize I am better off with some floor fans....but my house is an open floor plan also.
Glad it is working for you.
Glad it is working for you.
JSoko
Member
well Egghead, I do the same with good results
we have 18 foot ceiling in the living room/kitchen, temps up top reach 88F
the AC return grill is up near the top in front of the stove, it's a big one. There are 3 others returns in the back rooms, I sealed them off and turned the AC fan on.
The t'stat in the hall will read 65 - 74 degrees depending.
all my duct work is in the attic, after balancing the system they spray foamed the supply & returns when they did the rest of the house, this house is tight and holds the inside temp winter & summer
PS: I'm total electric & I hate a HEAT PUMP; I live out in the middle of nowhere, in fact we don't get Monday Night Football till Wednesday night.
on a side note, my total utility bill is less than my old house which had city water, natural gas and electric, but I still hate a HEAT PUMP, but LOVE wood heat
we have 18 foot ceiling in the living room/kitchen, temps up top reach 88F
the AC return grill is up near the top in front of the stove, it's a big one. There are 3 others returns in the back rooms, I sealed them off and turned the AC fan on.
The t'stat in the hall will read 65 - 74 degrees depending.
all my duct work is in the attic, after balancing the system they spray foamed the supply & returns when they did the rest of the house, this house is tight and holds the inside temp winter & summer
PS: I'm total electric & I hate a HEAT PUMP; I live out in the middle of nowhere, in fact we don't get Monday Night Football till Wednesday night.
on a side note, my total utility bill is less than my old house which had city water, natural gas and electric, but I still hate a HEAT PUMP, but LOVE wood heat
Simonkenton
Minister of Fire
"I'm in the middle of nowhere, we don't get Monday Night Football until Wednesday night."
That is a good one, never heard that before.
That is a good one, never heard that before.
Bmore
Burning Hunk
I use the heat pump fan as well. I set it on its lowest setting and wired the house humidifier to run with the fan on. Return is on the ceiling of the stove room and others get closed. Seems to work Ok. I do not run it 24/7. Just when the humidity gets too low.
Dix
Minister of Fire
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