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STR posted:Former North Texan here. Option 2 sounds like the most honest company, and I can speak from personal experience that adding a bunch of insulation helps a ton. Doing so got the AC (a 5 ton unit) to actually maintain temp all day, though it still ran most of the day. Before that, the house would get up to 80+ during the day. It can maintain 70 all day now (parents still live there), and it actually cycles occasionally. It's a lost cause if you turn it up at all during the day when you're gone, unless you come back after the sun has gone down, but it'll maintain as long as you give it a head start before the sun comes up. Electric bill went down a bit, gas bill in the winter went way down. Fortunately I’ve already got a few attic fans and whirly birds up there. I’m pretty much sold on adding more insulation, however my research has found that this guy might have just been uneducated with respect to the ducting... it’s Goodman/owl flex brand style (which was never meant to be used for this due to UV exposure), and according to a few websites, once that plastic exterior liner goes, you have to replace the ducting or you may have fiberglass blowing through your vents. I think all said and done, I’ll have him blow in the insulation and do the air sealing for me, but I might replace the duct work myself (depending on what a couple of other companies can tell me this week). Gin_Rummy fucked around with this message at 16:14 on Jan 27, 2020 |
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Jan 27, 2020 16:07
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Call the company which did that major work and tell them your concerns and problems. They should be willing to come out a quarter later and give it a tune on the house. It isn't always possible to get things exactly right the first time with flow balancing short of a huge engineering exercise. Make sure that you know which doors being open/closed cause you which problems.
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Jan 27, 2020 17:17
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Gin_Rummy posted:Fortunately I’ve already got a few attic fans and whirly birds up there. I’m pretty much sold on adding more insulation, however my research has found that this guy might have just been uneducated with respect to the ducting... it’s Goodman/owl flex brand style (which was never meant to be used for this due to UV exposure), and according to a few websites, once that plastic exterior liner goes, you have to replace the ducting or you may have fiberglass blowing through your vents. I think all said and done, I’ll have him blow in the insulation and do the air sealing for me, but I might replace the duct work myself (depending on what a couple of other companies can tell me this week). How is UV getting into your attic? Insulated flex duct is a layer of plastic, insulation, and then another layer of plastic. Air only flows through that inner layer, so the outer layer being damaged can't really result in fiberglass getting inside (unless the damage was something that also damaged the inner layer). See if your electric company has some sort of energy efficiency program... you might be able to get a cheap/free energy audit and get actual data about what the problem is. You could also check out http://www.bpihomeowner.org/ and see about getting someone to tell you what the actual problem is. 5 inches of insulation (so a single fiberglass batt?) is definitely not going to be enough... https://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=home_sealing.hm_improvement_insulation_table Run far away from option 1.
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Jan 28, 2020 02:58
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devicenull posted:How is UV getting into your attic? https://inspectapedia.com/aircond/Gray_Flex_Duct_Goodman.php This is the type of ducting it is. It’s just old as poo poo and has constantly been baking in the attic for god knows how long. I can very obviously tell that this is, at the very least, part of my problem. Gin_Rummy fucked around with this message at 04:12 on Jan 28, 2020 |
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Jan 28, 2020 03:17
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kastein posted:Do you have balancing dampers in the supply ducts to each vent? You may without even knowing it, and they might need adjusting. Normally the balancing is done with the supply ducts not the returns, and the returns just need to be big enough. We do, and when I had called them out initially after the install, they indicated that they'd rather wait for the hotter months when the AC is cooling and seeing more demand, since currently we've been on heat mostly the last 2-3 months and it's been running at a fairly low rate for the variable speed blower and usually just at the first stage for the furnace. I actually had to ask to have them install the dampers since originally they weren't planning to... H110Hawk posted:Call the company which did that major work and tell them your concerns and problems. They should be willing to come out a quarter later and give it a tune on the house. It isn't always possible to get things exactly right the first time with flow balancing short of a huge engineering exercise. Yeah, I'm going to have them back out in a few months to see about further adjustments. We have a couple of wireless sensors, one in each room, that averages out with the thermostat itself. It's just that there's enough of a delta that it seems like the far room just doesn't get much airflow.
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Jan 28, 2020 07:40
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New place has floor vents, our bed is over one (there are two in the room) and the couch is over one (there are two in the room, and the couch has 5-6 inches of space under it, not completely blocking the vent). How can I tell if it's ok to close those two registers without damaging the blower, or should I get angled/vent deflectors? e: or should I get vent deflectors and angle them 1) at the wall so the air spreads out along the wall or 2) angle the air into the room under the furniture? The Slack Lagoon fucked around with this message at 19:51 on Feb 2, 2020 |
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Feb 2, 2020 19:44
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You won't damage the blower. Air is compressible, so you could completely block off all the airflow and it won't damage the fan part. You should get vent deflectors anyway, for your comfort and system performance.
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Feb 2, 2020 19:51
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Had a few more companies come look... consensus opinion is that the ductwork absolutely needs to go, and that my very old R22 system will probably need to be replaced in the near-ish future. As of now, I’m pretty much only interested in swapping the ducts, because that’s really where my current issue lies. Quotes for that range about $4500-$4800... if I were to do this myself (which I am more than willing to do), do you guys estimate I’d really be saving any money in the end? EDIT: For reference, 1700 sqft single story house. Most of the vents are within a few feet of the furnace, with one long run (probably less than 100 ft) going to my kitchen. Gin_Rummy fucked around with this message at 20:13 on Feb 7, 2020 |
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Feb 7, 2020 20:11
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Okay 2 question for my new (once it closes) home and it's HVAC. 1600 sq foot 2 story is that matters. I will 100% be getting a new furnace and adding AC at that time. Replacing furnace like day 1 because this bad boy pictures below is what's currently in the house. I'm pretty sure it's original and was oil converted to gas and is probably about 50% efficient.  There's an addition.. that has a basement but they decided it would be better to put a wall unit and no ducts   Is there a need to run an air return if I run actual heat to this room? The plumbing for the master starts out a bit lower than it really should have so although the additions basement is really open and it seems like there is lots of room, trying to get around that plumbing with 2 runs may be a bit of a poo poo and will either have the ducts go really low, or have to screw around with running the plumbing more efficiently to allow for room for HVAC. We want to go past the plumbing as the bedroom is past that (maybe also run a line to the bathroom as it doesn't have any heating. The basement in question.  Second. We'll be going high efficiency, 95% is the goal I think ,so the furnace won't be using the chimney I believe The water heater also runs to the chimney via a pretty long run. Should I be planning on getting a direct / Power vent water heater at the same time, or am I going to not die of carbon monoxide if I wait for the water heater to die / further on in my renovation plans to replace it. tater_salad fucked around with this message at 00:12 on Feb 11, 2020 |
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Feb 11, 2020 00:09
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Dat green, Dat logo. Almost artdeco. One: You don't need to run a return if there's enough undercut to the door. or you can just put a transfer grill above the door, or to an adjacent room with a return in it. Two: Usual practice for high efficency furnaces is to run CPVC air supply and exhausts out the nearest available wall, not use existing chimney. They then cap off the exhaust going to the chimney, so you can keep using the existing water heater until it dies. Gin_Rummy posted:if I were to do this myself (which I am more than willing to do), do you guys estimate I’d really be saving any money in the end? depends on how long it takes you to do, and how much your time is worth.
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Feb 11, 2020 00:22
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On the first. Yeah I do enjoy it's aesthetic it'd be cool to use the outer shell as a corner for the basement bar or something. The house was built in '62 and most likely this was the furnace that was in the house. They may need to sawzall it to get it out. On the second. The home inspector was saying that with the furnace gone venting the HWT to the chimney was less than ideal because there was less convection from the furnace now. This is my main concern, eventually the plan is to cap off the chimney 100% and go direct vent on the HWT.
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Feb 11, 2020 00:33
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Have an asbestos survey done, that furnace is old enough it could have some in it and you want to be having the seller take care of it or taking remediation costs taken into account on the sale price.
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Feb 11, 2020 00:51
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Already done and sellers are taking care of it. The asbestos company that came in said one of the wraps around duct work needs to be remedied and the exhaust to the chimney is wrapped in asbestos paper and is getting removed. Would have preferred a credit because it seems stupid for them to remove the exhaust pipe and replace it for 2 months when we get in and replace the furnace. I don't know if they checked the actual furnace.
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Feb 11, 2020 01:52
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There could be asbestos insulation and gasketing in it. In fact, I'd say high probability given what you just described.
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Feb 11, 2020 02:44
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Well poo poo.
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Feb 11, 2020 03:55
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My house is electric, not gas, but the air from the vents has smelled like a rotten egg fart for the past couple weeks whenever the heat is on (I only notice it when i get home from work, but it might just be that I get used to it after awhile). It just occurred to me that we did have our main sewage line back up a little while ago, could that have shot poo up the drip pipe thing? The clearout pipes overflowed in the yard but none of the drains in the house did. Did something die in my heater and it just won't go away? What's going on?
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Feb 12, 2020 01:21
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its possible the drip trap has been emptied, and is pulling sewer air up and into the ductwork. the drain tubing coming out of the ac should have a "u" bend somewhere, fill that with water. either that or poop water backed its way up into the unit, and it dried and smells. probably the first one though.
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Feb 12, 2020 01:35
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MRC48B posted:its possible the drip trap has been emptied, and is pulling sewer air up and into the ductwork. I checked the drip pipe coming out but its just a pvc pipe that comes out and ends inside a larger pvc pipe, so it isn't sealed or anything. I still poured some water in but now I don't know what. I guess I'll pop the front off and see if the coils look gross next
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Feb 13, 2020 16:08
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Pollyanna posted:For the return, I think there's one big box that both the inflow and return vents connect to, and which connects to the heater itself in some unknown way. At least, I think that's the case. It's very much a black box, and I have no insight into how it works. Guess what? It fuckin’ didn’t! I’m still getting clumps of gross, non-hair stuff and a layer of dust on my apartment while the heating is going. Something is still very dirty, and I have half a mind to figure it out myself. I asked the landlords to tell me how to check the filters myself, and failing that, I’m opening this thing up:  To see if that’s where the filter is. However! This seems to be an upflow furnace, because those are the supply vents. This is where the return vents connect to:  Which is welded shut, or something. I was under the impression that filters go right before air goes into a furnace, not right as it goes out. How would you replace the filter if this is where it goes? Where the hell does the filter go for this furnace!?
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Feb 13, 2020 18:54
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Pollyanna posted:Where the hell does the filter go for this furnace!? If it's not at the furnace it's typically in an openable return air grate in the living space.
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Feb 13, 2020 19:13
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Motronic posted:If it's not at the furnace it's typically in an openable return air grate in the living space.  How does that work when the ducts from top box all go their own separate ways? I can’t think of a way that a centralized location for the filter in my own apartment could possibly work.
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Feb 13, 2020 19:15
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Pollyanna posted:
It's a closed system if you ignore the living space. Either you filter the return or the exhaust. My filter goes in my one return which means the air blowing through the furnace and ducts is prefiltered.
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Feb 13, 2020 19:24
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The question then is where it could possibly be in my apartment. I have absolutely no idea where it is. I’ll investigate when I get home, but my landlords might have to explain it to me. But as far as I can see from those pictures, the filter is nowhere near the furnace itself. Is that the case? This feels very strange.
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Feb 13, 2020 19:31
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The filter can be inside the furnace too.
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Feb 13, 2020 21:54
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Guy Axlerod posted:The filter can be inside the furnace too. its this. open the lower panel (you may have to take the upper off first) and the filter will be on the right side.
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Feb 13, 2020 23:47
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I have a Large Adult Screwdriver with that furnace’s name on it now.
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Feb 14, 2020 00:06
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Feb 14, 2020 00:56
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Umm that pile of dirt in the blower area is concerning.
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Feb 14, 2020 01:00
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NO poo poo
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Feb 14, 2020 01:02
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Keep in mind that: - this is a completely new furnace - the boxes surrounding the furnace are either screwed/welded or taped "shut" - the entire basement floor is covered in that dirt/dust/garbage
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Feb 14, 2020 01:08
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Well, there's the filter on your poorly installed unit. Also remove the pile of dirt. And the filter needs to be changed like.....a LOT for a long time until all that poo poo is gone.
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Feb 14, 2020 01:47
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Motronic posted:Well, there's the filter on your poorly installed unit. Also remove the pile of dirt. You see a filter? Edit: Not a joking answer. I genuinely don't think there's a filter in this furnace at all. The left side of the cylinder here: Looks like the inside of a plane turbine:  While the right side is all connected up with wires. Is the left side where the filter would go? Pollyanna fucked around with this message at 02:02 on Feb 14, 2020 |
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Feb 14, 2020 01:52
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The filter should be clipped to the square opening on the right. Sorry, you got a landlord handyman special.
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Feb 14, 2020 02:03
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“Clipped”? I have no idea how that would work. Is that something I can add myself?
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Feb 14, 2020 02:08
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Pollyanna posted:You see a filter? Maybe it's hard to see in the pics, but isn't that a crusty wall on the bottom of the unit to the right of all of the pile of poo poo? If not I guess I need to zoom in. But in any case, that's a poo poo show.
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Feb 14, 2020 02:09
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Crusty wall? No, I think what you’re looking at is the metal box where the return ducts converge. Basically, all the return ducts converge into that metal box. Then, that box is screwed into the side of the furnace to try and seal it. It looks like there was a square cut out of the right side of the furnace to connect it to the metal box’s opening. See those raggedy edges? That’s some sort of fabric. This is where the furnace connects to the return box. That’s the right side of the furnace, right of the cylinder. That’s where MRC48B says a filter should be clipped somehow. Pollyanna fucked around with this message at 02:17 on Feb 14, 2020 |
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Feb 14, 2020 02:14
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Pollyanna posted:Crusty wall? No, I think what you’re looking at is the metal box where the return ducts converge. Yikes....so..... MRC48B posted:Sorry, you got a landlord handyman special. You need to talk to the person who owns this building and this equipment.
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Feb 14, 2020 02:16
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loving christ. Okay, I think I'm gonna have to walk to their office again. This is insane. What do I even say to them? "I opened the furnace, found a lot of dust and dirt, no filter even though you told me there was a filter, and there's no way to install a filter"? They'll just tell me to gently caress myself. And to be clear, there's no option to install a filter the way this is set up? Not even by myself?
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Feb 14, 2020 02:18
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Pollyanna posted:loving christ. Okay, I think I'm gonna have to walk to their office again. This is insane. Uhhh...you shouldn't have opened the furnace to begin with. You rent. You don't get to do poo poo like this. Your choices for renting are to choose a place where this isn't a problem or to complain.
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Feb 14, 2020 02:21
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Pollyanna posted:“Clipped”? I have no idea how that would work. Is that something I can add myself? What you should do is make your landlord unfuck this. But we're clearly past that point. Refer to the following, it is a mirror image of what you need to accomplish: 
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Feb 14, 2020 02:23
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