Our heater blows way to hard upstairs and not enough downstairs. It only has one unit and we have 3200 square feet of home and it is a newer house. It doesnt have any kind of switch for summer or winter or anything like that, I looked everywhere. It blows super hard upstairs, like rediculous hard and hardly anything downstairs. It takes forever for downstairs to get to the right temp and by that time it is unbearably hot upstairs. Would it hurt to close ALL the vents upstairs and let just the few vents downstairs blow? Is it to much restriction or no?
2007-01-16 04:38:57 · 9 answers · asked by Anonymous in Home & Garden ➔ Maintenance & Repairs
Blow most of your heat downstairs, close the upstairs vents. The heat is going to travel up anyway, up the staircase, through the ceilings and it is all going to end up upstairs. Its not going to hurt the heating system.
2007-01-16 04:45:07 · answer #1 · answered by billy 6 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Where is the furnace located? If it's installed in the attic or on the second floor, you may need a secondary fan installed to help pull the heated air into the downstairs areas.
Or there could be a leak in the ductwork that serves the poorly heated area. Since it's a newer house, see if there's a warranty on the HVAC installation, and if so have the installer check it out. If no warranty, it really shouldn't cost too much to hire someone to do an inspection/diagnosis.
Closing the upstairs vents is a poor solution, doesn't do anything about the source of the problem.
2007-01-16 12:48:37 · answer #2 · answered by Gitchy gitchy ya ya da da 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The heater must be on the roof, so it is easier to blow the air into the upstairs before making it to the outside. You can restrict the air that comes out upstairs by partially closing the vents, leave them slightly open so you do get some heat.
2007-01-16 12:45:11 · answer #3 · answered by Gary S 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
As long as about half the vents are fully open, things will be fine. Try closing the upstairs vents most of the way; you want some heat upstairs, just less than you are getting.
2007-01-16 12:51:23 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Hard to answer when you can't see the layout. I wouldn't close the upstairs vents, but adjust them for say 50% flow. If this isn't enough, dial the vents where it is warmest down to 25%.
This should help divert the remaining air flow to your lower vents. If not, there must be an obstruction or an installation issue.
2007-01-16 12:47:15 · answer #5 · answered by KirksWorld 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
We base the whole process on the amount of cfm (cubic feet of air per minute) needed per room. The amount of cfm needed per room is based on many variables. The size of room, amount of windows, amount of outside wall, and so on. You could have a professional determine your needs, or you might even be able to find the information on the homes original blue prints.
Each damper then could be adjusted to supply the exact amount of cfm per room required.
As to your direct request. You can close the vents down. I would not recommend closing them completely. Leave some air flow. Check the vents on the first floor and see if your flow has increased.
A very simple tool to do this it a piece of tissue. Turn at a length of about 3-4 inches and maybe 1/2 inch wide. Go around before you make any changes and see how much air flow you have presently. Close off your second floor dampers and see if it increased the flow to the first floor.
2007-01-16 13:33:52 · answer #6 · answered by ? 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
no, you should be just fine. If you're worried about it, close the vents and turn down the heat a bit - allow less air to pass thru as quickly = less pressure
2007-01-16 12:43:53 · answer #7 · answered by margarita 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
that's exactly what happens at my house. I do it all the time, nothing bad has happened.
2007-01-16 12:44:29 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
you have the solution
2007-01-16 12:53:11 · answer #9 · answered by sushimaven 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋