We moved into a new home about 2 years ago in MN. As it turns out, my youngest daughter's room is always cold. It's the SW corner of the home. As I'm working in the HVAC while finishing the basement, I noticed it may be done incorrectly, or better yet, could have been done better. It looks like they put the run in right off of a 90. It's the first run in the house off the furnace so it's always boggled my mind even more. While I'm doing the basement duct work, is there a way I could improve the heat to that room?
Reason for cold room?
1 - 12 of 12 Posts
Tell us more about the house and the location of this cold room. How many windows, how many exterior walls, and what is under it. Do you have attic access to inspect insulation and/or ducts up there?
Bud
You beat me by 1 minute
Can you explain what we are seeing in the last pictures?
Bud
You beat me by 1 minute
Can you explain what we are seeing in the last pictures?
Thanks Bud. It's a 2 level split story home. The bedroom in question is in the SW corner of the home with two exterior walls. There is a single window in he room. It's an entire unfinished basement below. All the attic insulation looks good and there is no duct work up there. The pictures (crappy I know) show the run from the main trunk in the basement to that bedroom. That run is 6' to the supply vent in the floor to that room (roughly 20' from furnace). There is no other heating/cooling issues in the home. I just thought the way that duct twists from the 90' of the main trunk may not be getting a lot of air flow. Other than that, I'm not quite sure what the issue would be.Tell us more about the house and the location of this cold room. How many windows, how many exterior walls, and what is under it. Do you have attic access to inspect insulation and/or ducts up there?
Bud
You beat me by 1 minute
Can you explain what we are seeing in the last pictures?
I'm a retired energy auditor, now energy consultant so in addition to the delivery system I look at the heat loss.
In winter air infiltration enters the low leak areas (often where the house rests on the foundation) then finds its way up through the house. The amount of infiltration is often shocking and basements that feel ok are actually dealing with a lot of cold air. During a cold spell you can often feel the cold air leaking in.
in any case, aggressive caulking where the house rests on the foundation is always beneficial.
I'm not hvac but I like to measure the supply air temp leaving the furnace and then arriving at the supply register. Also compare that temp to the return air temp.
Does the volume of air reaching that room seem equal to other rooms?
Did you mention if there is a return register in that room?
Bud
In winter air infiltration enters the low leak areas (often where the house rests on the foundation) then finds its way up through the house. The amount of infiltration is often shocking and basements that feel ok are actually dealing with a lot of cold air. During a cold spell you can often feel the cold air leaking in.
in any case, aggressive caulking where the house rests on the foundation is always beneficial.
I'm not hvac but I like to measure the supply air temp leaving the furnace and then arriving at the supply register. Also compare that temp to the return air temp.
Does the volume of air reaching that room seem equal to other rooms?
Did you mention if there is a return register in that room?
Bud
There is a return from that bedroom. The volume of air reaching that supply from the bedroom does feel equivalent to the others. 1/2 of the basement is below grade. I spent a lot of time in the basement this winter framing and doing some other things to finish the basement. On several occasions, I inspected around the four basement windows, and other areas to see if I could feel any cold air leakage, and I didn't come across anything - a few of these occasions we are talking -20 outside. We are probably talking a significant 8-10 degree difference between that room and the two on either side of it (one only has one exterior wall, and the other has one exterior wall + garage). No other cool spots in the home.
Measure the temperature of air as it leaves the furnace and then as it is delivered into the room. Does that duct pass through any outside walls?
As a note, the rim joist where the floor joists connect to the perimeter is just 1.5" of wood. That puts it in the category of a single piece of glass and we all know how terrible single pane windows are. Is there currently any insulation in that joist cavity?
SW corner receives the most sun so is not like a northern exposure.
Now, I cheat but it works like magic, I use an infrared camera. Modern cameras can be rented or even low cost versions purchased and they would give you a good look at where the cold spots are. Just an option.
Bud
As a note, the rim joist where the floor joists connect to the perimeter is just 1.5" of wood. That puts it in the category of a single piece of glass and we all know how terrible single pane windows are. Is there currently any insulation in that joist cavity?
SW corner receives the most sun so is not like a northern exposure.
Now, I cheat but it works like magic, I use an infrared camera. Modern cameras can be rented or even low cost versions purchased and they would give you a good look at where the cold spots are. Just an option.
Bud
An update, I kicked on the furnace today. The airflow to this bedroom is drastically lower than the neighboring bedrooms. I've attached two more pics of the way the ducts are ran in the basement.
1) This is the run from the main trunk to the upstairs bedroom (roughly 6'). You can see the two 90's used off of the 90 in the main trunk. The furnace is roughly 10' behind me in this picture.
2) Once again, able to see the twists coming off the main trunk with the furnace in the background. I am wondering if this run is too close to the 90 and would better be suited moved over to the left a foot or so.
Thoughts?!
1) This is the run from the main trunk to the upstairs bedroom (roughly 6'). You can see the two 90's used off of the 90 in the main trunk. The furnace is roughly 10' behind me in this picture.
2) Once again, able to see the twists coming off the main trunk with the furnace in the background. I am wondering if this run is too close to the 90 and would better be suited moved over to the left a foot or so.
Thoughts?!
Attachments
Amazon has some pretty cheap anemometers. Gives you airspeed and temperature. For these kind of prices, I am not sure how accurate they would be, but should be good for a quantitative comparison of your various rooms.
https://www.amazon.com/s?k=holdpeak...x=866B+ANEMOMETER,aps,168&ref=nb_sb_ss_i_1_15
https://www.amazon.com/s?k=holdpeak...x=866B+ANEMOMETER,aps,168&ref=nb_sb_ss_i_1_15
1 - 12 of 12 Posts
