Ideas for how to fix uneven home heating/cooling?

SVreX said:

Ducts under a slab on grade are generally avoided because the risks of moisture intrusion are far too great to justify any advantages to such a system. They can end up with standing liquid water, pools of stagnant scum, thick mold, mildew, and thriving ecosystems. No way to fix it, either, once you realize you have a problem.

This is another reason running a camera down those ducts would be a really good idea. 

Yeah, and the guy I spoke to that cleaned the vents said the "duct sealing" companies.........that those aren't cheap.

In reply to z31maniac :

COPD is not cheap either. 

SVreX said:

In reply to dculberson :

It’s not uncommon in old slab on grade houses. It’s rarely done now. 

They do it in all of them around here still.  I hate it.  

The real answer is airflow and circulation.  Booster fan in the duct, ceiling fans, etc.  The dirty way to do it is a series of box fans in the hallway (or a space heater in the bedrooms), but those aren't pretty options.

In reply to Curtis :

You could clean those up by putting them in walls with grills over them. 

frenchyd said:

In reply to Curtis :

You could clean those up by putting them in walls with grills over them. 

?????

Do you mean store bought box fans and space heaters being put in the walls? If so, that sounds very "janky." 

I feel like I've gotten some evening-out by setting the fan to "on" instead of "auto", so that it's constantly circulating air regardless of whether it's actively heating or cooling. Mixes all the air better, moving heat to cold places and vice versa.

I haven't used it yet, but our new place's thermostat also has a "circ" mode that runs it some percentage of the time.

In reply to z31maniac :

“Janky” is Frenchy’s middle name. 

Mr Frenchy Janky Cinderellacastle. 

SVreX said:

In reply to z31maniac :

“Janky” is Frenchy’s middle name. 

Mr Frenchy Janky Cinderellacastle. 

Yeah, I hate to sound so snobby, but if you saw how nice the house is on the inside and outside, or my previous track car builds, "janky" is something up with which I will not put. 

My 1.6 Miata had down to the subframes removed, bushings out, powdercoated, brakes pulled apart rebuilt and powdercoated, everything went back together with fresh bushings and literally every single bolt was replaced with new OEM from the Mazda dealer. And that was just the suspension and brakes.

That's just how I do things. 

The returns are in the ceiling and the vents are in the slab? How the hell...?

In reply to NermalSnert :

An air handler in the vertical orientation pulls air from one end and blows from the other. 

Its pretty easy. It’s done all the time in slab in grade houses (though usually in reverse to OP’s scenario)

Thanks. I can see that after I thought about it for a min.

SVreX said:

Its pretty easy. It’s done all the time in slab in grade houses (though usually in reverse to OP’s scenario)

If that's the norm, would it be possible to redo the ductwork at the furnace to reverse the airflow? Maybe that's how it's supposed to be and got changed somehow.

In reply to llysgennad :

Yes, but no. 

Existing duct sizes will all be the wrong size and distribution. 

He also said the house has a cathedral ceiling in the center. That means new ducting installed in the attic can’t be connected to the other side of the house easily. 

It MIGHT be possible, but would likely cost more than $10K. 

Zero chance it was ever intended in reverse. 

Z31, in the interest of keeping it simple, cheap, and effective, for heating I’d use something like this: https://m.lowes.com/pd/Cadet-Register-1-500-Watt-120-Volt-Heater-Fan-Heater-4-in-L-x-7-375-in-H/1000062573

It looks just like a normal air register or return. It provides enough heat for a room. Hook them up to a nest (or whatever your preferred smart thermostat system is) and you’re good to go. You ultimately need multizone heating and cooling; this is the easiest and best way to do it on a budget short of having space heaters everywhere. 

SVreX said:

In reply to llysgennad :

Yes, but no. 

Existing duct sizes will all be the wrong size and distribution. 

He also said the house has a cathedral ceiling in the center. That means new ducting installed in the attic can’t be connected to the other side of the house easily. 

It MIGHT be possible, but would likely cost more than $10K. 

Zero chance it was ever intended in reverse. 

Yeah, that's just the dining room, you can see the windows above represent the even higher vaulted portion in the living room (right 3 windows) and the left 2 (master bed).

In reply to z31maniac :

Good looking house. 

The boosters your boss suggested would be a good cheap test fix if you have airflow at those registers. If you don't, (tried the yarn test?) there's not much else you can do with the existing system. Ceiling fans might help some. Lots of options to supplement the system, from the heated registers and window AC units, up to a mini-split system. Might be able to do a 3-4" duct hidden in a false soffit if you can tap into the supply at the furnace.

Agreed, nice looking house

z31maniac said:

frenchyd said:

In reply to Curtis :

You could clean those up by putting them in walls with grills over them. 

?????

Do you mean store bought box fans and space heaters being put in the walls? If so, that sounds very "janky." 

I doubt they would fit in typical walls.   At most you’d have 4&1/2 inches to work with. I was thinking something industrial. you wouldn’t need the “box” part.  Plenty of compact fans out there, just a matter of going through an industrial catalog or 2 ( doz)  

You’ve  seen my house anything look “janky”?  

This is why I have always wondered: if/when I build a house, is it better just to put in multiple ductless setups?  These issues go away, there is anywhere form some to a lot of energy savings, and you free up space normally consumed by ducts.

But yes, on that note, can you do some a simple ductless setup on the other end of the house?  I have a 3 bed 2 bath, and while all 3 rooms are heated/cooled evenly, I wish I had separate control over the other two.  They are used only several times a week vs. my bedroom which is used every night.

ProDarwin said:

This is why I have always wondered: if/when I build a house, is it better just to put in multiple ductless setups?  These issues go away, there is anywhere form some to a lot of energy savings, and you free up space normally consumed by ducts.

 

But yes, on that note, can you do some a simple ductless setup on the other end of the house?  I have a 3 bed 2 bath, and while all 3 rooms are heated/cooled evenly, I wish I had separate control over the other two.  They are used only several times a week vs. my bedroom which is used every night.

 

I would assume the answer is “it depends”. Large sprawling ranch? Probably. Small box? Probably not. 

Non janky transfer fans in a couple walls might be a fairly simple fix. Cut some drywall, wire em up.

https://na.panasonic.com/us/home-and-building-solutions/ventilation-indoor-air-quality/ventilation-accessories/transfer

Edit:  alternately- moving your thermostat might be helpful as well. 

frenchyd said:

z31maniac said:

frenchyd said:

In reply to Curtis :

You could clean those up by putting them in walls with grills over them. 

?????

Do you mean store bought box fans and space heaters being put in the walls? If so, that sounds very "janky." 

I doubt they would fit in typical walls.   At most you’d have 4&1/2 inches to work with. I was thinking something industrial. you wouldn’t need the “box” part.  Plenty of compact fans out there, just a matter of going through an industrial catalog or 2 ( doz)  

You’ve  seen my house anything look “janky”?  

my suggestions is Very janky indeed.  But cheap until you figure out a real solution.  I wasn't talking about putting anything in the walls, just box fans sitting on the floor in the hallway.  Janky AND ugly.

But I live alone in a teeny house.  I sometimes hypermile my heating bill by using a small ceramic space heater in the bedroom and dialing back the thermostat to 62 at night.  Then I have Alexa kick the stat back to 70 at about 8am so my morning pee has better aim.  (hard to hit the bowl when you're shivering)

SVreX said:

In reply to z31maniac :

Good looking house. 

Thanks Paul! I literally bought it the day it went on the market. 

llysgennad said:

The boosters your boss suggested would be a good cheap test fix if you have airflow at those registers. If you don't, (tried the yarn test?) there's not much else you can do with the existing system. Ceiling fans might help some. Lots of options to supplement the system, from the heated registers and window AC units, up to a mini-split system. Might be able to do a 3-4" duct hidden in a false soffit if you can tap into the supply at the furnace.

Agreed, nice looking house

There is airflow in the vents in the 2 bedrooms/offices, I often get up and stand over one to warm up my feet. There is enough flow I can hear it.

I'm starting to suspect that this "wing" of the house has no insulation in the "attic" space above it. I checked on my local electricity providers website and I'm not eligible for any of the testing/energy efficiency stuff because of my salary. So I'm going to give them a call and see if they can at least direct me toward a preferred contractor for the testing.

Unfortunately, on this side of the house, to get insulation up in this spot is going to mean cutting a hole in the ceiling in one of the rooms/closets/hallway, blowing a bunch of insulation up, then resealing the hole, fixing the texture, and repainting. It's not the god awful popcorn ceiling, but when the redid the house, they put the same texture on all the ceilings as they did the walls.

I think the other answer is windows. This house has a lot of them, and as you can see from the picture, all of them are 6' tall outside of the kitchen and 2 bathrooms. I don't want to think about how much it will cost just to do the bay window thing in the dining area, much less the whole house.