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Should I add Cold air returns?

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tibo4031
tibo4031 Member Posts: 4
in THE MAIN WALL

recently bought a raised ranch with a forced air system. The main trunk is right down the middle so the upstairs registers are in the floor and down stairs are in the ceiling.

some upstairs bedrooms and the basement dont have any cold air returns. Would adding them make a noticeable difference during the heating months?

the entire house is one zone so the basements always much colder as the thermostat is upstairs

Comments

  • mattmia2
    mattmia2 Member Posts: 15,191

    either returns or undercut the doors. if the air can't get out it can't get in.

    tibo4031
  • Pumpguy
    Pumpguy Member Posts: 775
    edited December 5

    My old house had this same arrangement. We only had one thermostat just off the kitchen. If we had a family dinner gathering during the heating season, the heat from the kitchen would satisfy the thermostat, and the downstairs rec room and bedroom would be cold.

    I first tried putting the fan on continuous but with the cold air return in the downstairs ceiling, the downstairs was still cold.

    I ended up cutting a hole for a register vent down near the floor in the cold air return plenum on the furnace. This helped, but not as I would have liked.

    Our new house has FA heat, with separate supply zones for the 2 floors. I had to call the builder back to install a cold air return for downstairs.

    I'm pretty happy with this arrangement. Only problem I've had in the past 20 years is, I've had to replace the zone supply shutter actuators once for each zone.

    Dennis Pataki. Former Service Manager and Heating Pump Product Manager for Nash Engineering Company. Phone: 1-888 853 9963
    Website: www.nashjenningspumps.com

    The first step in solving any problem is TO IDENTIFY THE PROBLEM.
    tibo4031
  • EBEBRATT-Ed
    EBEBRATT-Ed Member Posts: 19,279

    @Pumpguy You have to be cautious about returns in the furnace room. They (inspectors) don't usually go for that as it can mess with the combustion air

    tibo4031mattmia2
  • Kaos
    Kaos Member Posts: 832

    Cold basements are universally caused by air leaks. Foundation to wall intersection tends to be a very leaky joint, that cold air leaks in and settles near the floor of the basement.

    Changing the returns won't do much, what you need is a heat source by the floor. Ultimate is heated floor but the simplest is to put a bunch of low registers with higher throw grill to supply hot air to mix.

    Depending on how leaky the house is, this heat will now raise and heat the rest of the house so you can turn down the registers on the main floor.

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