Quote:
Originally Posted by zennmotion
I'm not an HVAC expert, but nobody has mentioned the role or importance of the return vents that allow circulation through the system. Forced air in but no escape makes for a very inefficient system with cold rooms. People often park furniture against or near the returns thinking that's no big deal since they're not "heating" vents. Make sure that the return vents 1) exist in the cold rooms and 2) are not blocked by furniture or dust bunnies. If they're old and gross with dust restricting airflow, vent covers are often more easily replaced than cleaned
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I had a new spec home in 2003 that had bedrooms with no returns, mainly due to the open design that left no walls, except exterior walls to run ducts down to the furnace in the basement. Some upstairs room had supply air ducts routed through exterior walls, so one space between studs had little insulation.
When I built my retirement home and acted as the GC in 2011, I made sure that all rooms had return vents. I also have R26 insulated walls and R60 ceiling insulation. This house has twice the square footage, and a heated & cooled 1800 square foot shop, but costs less to heat and cool than the 2003 spec home.