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HVAC guys chime in please


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we have some ceiling fans, but we have 10 ft ceilings. i dont want to drop them because the woodwork is just amazing in this house. 

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You dont have to do nothing, just turn them on low or medium, flip the switch on the side so they spin in reverse.

They should be cheaper to run than the furnace blower motor because those things are energy hogs, and even worse on older furnaces, so electricity wise your talking $300+ yearly to run that blower motor 24/7 in the colder months.

Not to mention you will dirty the furnace filters quicker requiring frequent changes which will cost more money.

So if your just trying to move the air about and even out the temps in the house a few ceiling fans running, or even some oscillating fans on low in rooms without ceiling fans will be way better off.

 

 

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  • 3 weeks later...

I agree with everything stated.  I did HVAC for near 5 years before where I work now.  Generally you want to have the same CFM's going into the furnace (cold air returns) as it's pushing out (heat vents) but in a lot of homes it's hard to do.  In new houses we tried to put all heat vents in the floor, right next to exterior walls, right under a window if at all possible.  All return airs we tried to put in the center of the house, thus heat getting pumped to the coldest parts of the house (windows lose heat, even new ones)  and pull air from the center would try to pull the heat evenly.  We would try to have a cold air return in each room that had a heat vent.  Big rooms, big windows would get multiple heat vents/cold air returns.  In theory.......

My house was built in the 50's and I still have the old windows and siding like yours and it drives me nuts that the cold air returns are in outside walls and heat runs are in center of house, it's like 10 degrees difference from by a window to interior walls within the same room.  I do the ceiling fan thing too though, flip the direction in summer to winter...

@Audiofanaticz  yea, some people with newer furnaces who don't change their filter will get faults and the furnace not working because it can't pull in enough air and it stays hot and just it's down.

I used to use a simple rule for how many heat runs and how big of a trunk line, as in, the trunk line is the duct work coming right off the furnace after the plenum and to keep the flow high you didn't want a trunk line 30' long with only 1 heat run off of it because the furnace wouldn't blow enough pressure to keep air coming out that 1 heat run very well.  I went by blankx2+2.  Most trunk lines are 8" tall (4" if low ceiling older basement)  so pretend you were going to have 8 heat runs on that side of the house, your initial trunk line would be 8x2=16+2=18 so it would be 8" tall by 18" wide, then after the first 4 heat runs come off it (4 remaining) you would drop it down to 4x2=8+2=10"  do a couple more then maybe 8"x8" at the end with the one heat run coming off it to keep pressure decent to that room.  Might not be textbook but it's just an example.  Keep in mind you prolly have furnace in center of house (most efficient) so you might have the trunk line heading in AT LEAST 2 directions, just one of the directions would have the 8 heat runs.  In new houses since by code they try and make them so air tight these days we had to run a 4" insulated cold air returned that sucked straight from the outside.

 

OP, how exposed are your heating runs?  You could always insulate them, they make premade stuff to do it really easily.  Or you could easily add a cold air return OR add a heat run (making sure sizing is correct to actually get flow to it).  Whether the vents you see up high are heat runs or cold air returns either way it seems it would be inefficient.  With older houses you never know if that's the only place they could put them with headers in the way or plumbing pipes etc.  

I did plumbing as well and we ALWAYS did that first because it all has to have slope so it can't always go around big heat ducting.  

 

They make systems just for your predicament but I'm sure you are just wanting to make it a little less drafty on the cheap cheap.  Keep in mind that forced air always feels colder than radiant heat because you have the movement of air and if it isn't warm it will create it's own draft and feel drafty.  As Audiofanaticz said.....

 

I don't know everything and I've been out the game for a while but I will answer any questions you have to the best of my ability.  
 

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the returns are up by the ceilings in each room on interior walls. vents are by windows. i think i will just upgrade the windows in this house. all the heat duct work is in the basement and the temp is pretty regular down there. i may insulate the ductwork like you said.

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