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Dumb furnace question

M Lane
M Lane Member Posts: 123
I'm a wet-side guy. But I live in a mid-70's Tri-level house with a furnace. The top floor gets too hot, the middle floor off to the side gets chilly, and the lower area goes from hot to cold. One thing I want to try is running fan 24/7. But I only have 2 wires at the stat, so the Fan On switch does nothing. Do I jump terminals W and G at the furnace to do this? Bad idea in general? I put in anew 93% FAU a couple years ago, but it does not seem to operate the fan at variable speeds. I have no A/C.

Comments

  • unclejohn
    unclejohn Member Posts: 1,833
    You would

    Jump "R"   "G" to get constant fan operation.
  • icesailor
    icesailor Member Posts: 7,265
    Did you try:

    Did you try closing off registers on the top floor so that the hot air doesn't stack up on the top floor? Hot air rises.

    I've worked in houses where both first and second floors were cooled with separate zones and even systems. Yet, when cooling, the first floor was well below the thermostat set point because the second floor cold air was falling down the stair space and cooling the downstairs. And the second floor was not cool but the AC was running continuously.

    I did a lot of electric heat conversions where I replaced the electric baseboards. Installed FHW baseboards in the exact space of the electric and had heat to spare. To keep the cost down and get the job, I suggested just doing the first floor and that hot air would rise and take care of the second floor. Leave the electric heat in the upstairs rooms at "Off" and turn it on only when you needed it. The second floor was always fine, they never turned on the electric, and everyone was happy.

    If you only have one return on the first floor and not returns in every floor or room, you will just circulate the cold air on the floors when you run the fan constantly.
  • M Lane
    M Lane Member Posts: 123
    DOH!

    Thanks.
  • RJ_4
    RJ_4 Member Posts: 484
    balance

    If you can access the supply plenum I would recommend installing balancing dampers , you can get round manual dampers online or Hercules supply in Denver should have them.  You would need to disconnect the round duct or flex at the plenum than install damper
    RJ