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| > > Hello all, | >
| > > I have a wood furnace in my basement with central forced air, and | > > right now (all winter so far) I have been leaving the basement door | > > open so that the cold air return is sucked down the stairs. | >
| > > I'm considering connecting up the returns to the furnace so as to make | > > a closed system, and I wanted to know if this makes much of a | > > difference in fuel usage and/or house temperatures. Right now, the | > > furnace has a struggle with a 50-degree difference outside vs. inside, | > > so if its 20F outside, I can almost not reach 70F inside. | >
| > > Any experiences welcomed here. | >
| > > Thanks | >
| > > DeanB | >
| > There are so many variables to consider here that I don't think anyone | > will be able to answer your question by comparing their own | > experiences. How well insulated is your basement from the rest of the | > house? How well insulated is your basement from the outside? How far | > with the air returns have to run? What size ducting will you use? | > How well insulated is your house? What is the level of difficulty in | > installing the ducts? What is the air volume of your basement as | > compared to the volume of your house? What would be the total cost of | > installing the returns? | >
| > If the duct is just a straight shot up from the furnace into the floor | > above, then that would be both easy and cheap to install. Consider, | > however, that the temperature difference at the surface of the floor | > and the basement ceiling probably isn't going to be all that much. | >
| > Some of these questions can't ever be answered with a high degree of | > precision. If you really want an accurate projection on your ROI for | > this project, I'd talk to a qualified HVAC consultant who can do an on | > site inspection | >
| > With that said, also don't forget that if your basement is very poorly | > insulated and dips below freezing, you risk rupturing your pipes, or | > ruining any stored materials such as latex paint.- Hide quoted text - | >
| > - Show quoted text - | | | As said, based on that limited info, no one can give you an answer. | But if your furnace can't maintain 70 when it's 20 outside, something | is wrong and I doubt a return is going to do much to solve it. Is | the furnace running continously?
same problem with brand new "concord 80 plus" oil furnace (forced air) runs continuously heating bill is $1200 per mth. in N.E. why can't the furnace reach 70 degrees? it has a hard time maintaning 68 degrees over night.
insulation .................well..................none. built in 1911 returns..................yes
5000+ sq. ft. house
what size should the nozzle be?
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