New York Renovator » heating

Planning the Heating System

Mrs. Mecomber — Wed, 22 Sep 2010 02:33:23 +0000

I haven’t touched on our plans for heating the home yet.. mostly because we have been absolutely consumed with so many other big projects that need our attentions now… I mentioned over the summer, during demolition, that we decided to rip out the forced air furnace ducts after seeing their dismal and dangerous condition when we ripped open the walls. I have always hated forced air heat, and the one in this house seemed particularly dusty and toxic. We were always sick with some respiratory illness or another. The ducts in the house were horrible. The sections of ducting had never been connected together; they simply sat inside each other. Well, they had once sat inside each other. After 60 years, the ducts had split apart, exposing the inside of the ducts to the plaster dust and lathe inside the walls, and to the toxic lining they had slathered all over the exterior of the ducts. Talk about horror- I needed some serious wrinkle eye cream after the angst I suffered, realizing what we’d been breathing in all this time. I HATE forced air systems. Filthy, inefficient, and expensive. Yuk.

We still have our forced air furnace installed, though. We are eventually going to sell it. We’ve consulted with our Furnace Guy about getting a new, modern heating system. I’m not too keen on central heating, but the Furnace Guy said that is the best way to go when it comes to house values. So far, the decision is to go with the hydronic baseboard heat. Before we closed up the walls in the kitchen, I constructed a shaft made of PVC pipe, for the allowing of PEX piping to go up to the second floor when we decide to install the heating system.

A gas fireplace with sufficient BTUs can heat an entire room or zone! And they look beautiful!

However, this winter we are not having it installed. I installed electric baseboard heat in the bedrooms upstairs, and we will be placing space heaters in some of the rooms downstairs. Of course, I’d just LOVE to install a modern fireplace in the house. The home did once have fireplaces– in the living room and in the dining room, but they were old coal-fueled fireplaces, and not the clean-burning modern fireplaces that we know today. I will be building a section in the living room and the dining room with the hope of installing a gas-fired fireplace in each room. It would be so cozy. And I hear that gas-fired heaters are much warmer. I know a few folks who have them, and their homes are almost hot in the winter!

So that’s our decision thus far. Next year we will be getting a hydronic system. It’s too big a project to do (and pay for) this year, so for this season, we’ll endure the electric baseboard heat and space heaters. I’ll have more updates on that, to come.

Planning the Heating System

Original eloquence at New York Renovator.com. This content is copyrighted, so no stealing! Don't make me angry, you don't want to see me when I'm angry!

The Furnace Cold Air Return Vents

Mrs. Mecomber — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 00:38:43 +0000

About this time every year, my blog gets a lot of traffic from people searching for “can I cover my cold air return vents?”

Answer: no.

I want to address this issue again. If you have a forced air furnace, realize that there is an exchange of air going on with it– cold air to hot air. Your furnace needs to take in cold air, heat it up, and blow it out through your heater vents as heated air. If you cover your cold air return vents, you are starving your furnace, creating an air vacuum in your home (leading to an uncomfortable atmosphere), and perhaps filling your home with trace amounts of carbon monoxide.

Do not cover your cold air return vents.

I did a post about this when I renovated my living room, and re-did some of the furnace ducting to the room. I had done some studying and talked with my furnace guy. You can read the post here. You can also read my recent post about changing your furnace filters– it’s an easy chore, easier then changing water filters anyway! Not changing dirty filters can damage your furnace and wind up costing you more money on your heating bills, too.

Now, my home has cold air return vents, but not enough. Not only do you need vents, you need a proper amount for proper air exchange. My house, at about 1680 square feet, only has two small cold air return vents– for the entire house! That is far too few. My Furnace Guy said that for every heater vent (and size) in a room, there should be a cold air return vent. Bedrooms almost never have them, and this explains why bedrooms are so cold in the winter– there is no full air exchange but rather a vacuum of air. The heated air really has nowhere to go, since there is no air flow; and the room air remains stagnant and chilly. So ideally, every room should have a cold air return vent (or at least larger ones in key areas of the home). I know! This sounds awful, because with duct work, you have to rip out walls and work with metal. It’s NOT fun. However, the next time you have a wall open or if you decide to build an addition to your home, keep these things in mind. Your furnace will appreciate it, and it will show in the heating bills.

And in the meantime, keep all those cold air return vents uncovered!

Photos courtesy of Americanhvacparts and Office of Energy Efficiency of Canada.

The Furnace Cold Air Return Vents

Original eloquence at New York Renovator.com. This content is copyrighted, so no stealing! Don't make me angry, you don't want to see me when I'm angry!

About Cold Air Return Vents

Mrs. Mecomber — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 00:13:52 +0000

About this time every year, my blog gets a lot of traffic from people searching for “can I cover my cold air return vents?”

Answer: no.

Do not cover your cold air return vents.

I did a post about this when I renovated my living room, and re-did some of the furnace ducting to the room. I had done some studying and talked with my furnace guy. You can read the post here.

Now, my home has cold air return vents, but not enough. Not only do you need vents, you need a proper amount for proper air exchange. My house, at about 1680 square feet, only has two small cold air return vents– for the entire house! That is far too few. My Furnace Guy said that for every heater vent (and size) in a room, there should be a cold air return vent. Bedrooms almost never have them, and this explains why bedrooms are so cold in the winter– there is no full air exchange but rather a vacuum of air. The heated air really has nowhere to go, since there is no air flow; and the room air remains stagnant and chilly. So ideally, every room should have a cold air return vent (or at least larger ones in key areas of the home). I know, I know! Replacing and rebuilding your home’s ducting system is not as easy as replacing all the kitchen sinks! With ductwork, you have to rip out walls and work with metal. It’s NOT fun. However, the next time you have a wall open or if you decide to build an addition to your home, keep these things in mind. Your furnace will appreciate it, and it will show in the heating bills.

And in the meantime, keep those cold air return vents uncovered!

Photos courtesy of Americanhvacparts and Office of Energy Efficiency of Canada.

About Cold Air Return Vents

Original eloquence at New York Renovator.com. This content is copyrighted, so no stealing! Don't make me angry, you don't want to see me when I'm angry!