quiet return grille recommendations

[jake.pinneberg]

My 16.5x31.5" furnace return grille is getting on my nerves after 20 years. Should I just go to Home Depot and "supersize" my grille? Or is there a brand out there with a reputation for quiet?

Thanks, Jake

[Noon-Air]

If its been noisy for 20 years, that kind of indicates that it wasn't done right in the first place. Add to that that the average lifespan for a furnace is 18 - 20 years, you might want to consider replacing the old furnace and ductwork with a new super energy efficient one that is correctly sized for you home and get the ductwork re-done correctly at the same time. All things being right with the world, the noise will go away and your energy bills will drop considerably.

[Zyp]

Just turn off the fan. :)

[jake.pinneberg]

The furnace is new as of last week. The noise remains an issue. Which grille would you buy for your home?

Thx, Jake

[Steve]

The furnace is new as of last week. The noise remains an issue. Which grille would you buy for your home?

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I would buy correctly sized ductwork. The air noise is from restriction in the air flow. It wasn't done right in the first place, and now you have a new box(furnace) and still have the same problem. How many btu is the furnace?? does it have A/C?? how many btu or tons?? Its entirely possible that there are multiple problems.... oversized furnace, and undersized ductwork. Its not *JUST* the grill.

[ftwhd]

Lmao. What hack did you let do the work? Oh wait, I know, you went with the lowest bidder! I am the real ftwhd and I approve this message.

[Don Ocean]

Might even add isolators to isolate ducts from furnace vibrations.

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[Don Ocean]

Or turn up the TV! ;-p

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[Don Ocean]

Have a pro isolate your furnace from the duct work.. Mount the furnace on rubber pads. You haven't stated what your CFM is.

[Patriot]

Did he Charge only $3800 for the entire bid? Yep, that the lowest bidder.

[Zyp]

Remove the grille, and cover the hole with chicken wire - :) And turn up the TV

On a serious note, have you tried calling back the hack who, whoops, I mean the HVAC professional that installed your new box - errrr - furance...

[Steve]

nothing to do with climate... all my service agreement customers have been taked care of. Those that were up for renewal didn't have the money to renew. Condemned 2 furnaces... they don't have the money to replace them.

I do some fridge work, and most all of my commercial customers have gone out of business, and closed their doors. I only have a couple of commercial customers left.

[ftwhd]

Well the bright side is we are nearing the end of an error and things will pick up again. Gas is down to 1.89 around here but its going to take some time for folks to recoup and get caught back up. Its hard to get by when your pumping a few hundred a week into the tank to get to work. Especially for those who make shit wages, Thank god for the UA. :)

[Steve]

The only thing that is keep ing me afloat right now is that all the low bidders and hacks went to Houston, to grab some of that hurricane Ike money. I am picking up what they left behind, as well as fixing their screw ups.

[ftwhd]

On Thu, 13 Nov 2008 21:04:18 -0600, "Steve" wrote: snippage

Are you guys all rebuilt after Katrina? Hows the new housing market? In the shiter i suppose..

[Steve]

pretty much rebuilt as its gonna be... until some money starts moving again. as for the new housing market?? 6 months ago a builder I know went belly up and turned the keys for 40 homes over to the bank.

[Don Ocean]

The Cheapest here is $1.92/9 per gallon. And that is 10% gasohol. Flex fuel, whis\\ch is 27% Gasohol is a flat $1.42. E85 is less, But around here, only Government vehicles are rigged for that. Diesel is still way too damned high. Most of the farmers equipment is diesel. Even without road taxes it is still high. Propane is down from $2.12 to $1.68. The farmers are burning a tremendous amount of Propane right now in the corn dryers. Too much snow and rain with temperatures staying just about 32ºf daytime temperatures. We host some of that largest Gasohol producers in the world and one of the biggest just declared a chapter 13 or is it 11? reorganization. They contracted to buy corn at last years prices and now are getting the bottom line massacred by that. More will either bankrupt of reorg withing weeks. Gasohol is tax subsidized to the tune of about

55 cents a gallon.

[Andy Energy]

ual J first, this sizes the furnace and AC unit. You can find out about th= is through ACCA.

2) A blower door test is needed for a better estimate of how leaky the house is for =93J=94. 3) A duct test is needed for =93J=94 4) There needs to be some distance from the return grill to the blower motor or nothing you do will stop the noise. 5) Use a flex duct rated for negative pressure and put a long sweeping curve in it if possible. 6) We recommend a commercial type grill such as =93Shoemaker=94 as they have less resistance in them. 7) We recommend 2 ft sq per ton of AC (yes that is correct) 8) Put a 2=94 filter (not 2 - 1=94 filters) at the grill. It is a must that return duct, plenum and air handler do not leak. A filter in the return grill can increase duct leakage. We put it there so the return duct stays clean and reduces noise.

Bottom line is your HVAC contractor did not use any building science to install your system or you would barely be able to hear your system when nothing else in the house is running.

What I describe above is not for the do it yourself, handy man, or about 99% of those called HVAC contractors. If they do not have the tools and knowledge to use them your system will be noisy, over sized, leaky, hot/ cold rooms, high bills to mention a few.

Andy

[Stormin Mormon]

When I go to my parts house, usually two or three guys there. Quiet, compared to some times of the year.

[Stormin Mormon]

It's something called an "economy". Sometimes it doesn't send you work. The guys on TV talk about it all the time.