Forced air heating - noise unbearable
HU-931799248
2 years ago
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mike_home
2 years agoHU-931799248
2 years agoRelated Discussions
Radiant Heating in addition to forced air? Lots of questions
Comments (18)This is not technical, but opinions after living with radiant floors for several years: One thing to remember is that we must adapt to a difference in how we think about heating. With F/A, wood, radiators, etc. we have a tendency to look at the outside thermometer registering cold, and then turn up the inside thermostat. Or maybe we walk by a window and feel cold seeping in -- and turn up the thermostat to compensate. That's often habit, but the habit is based on the fact that most houses are/were poorly insulated and often let cold or drafts into the living area -- so if it's cold outside our subconscious says oooh, it's gonna get cold in here, turn up the heat. You almost have to live with radiant flooring to really realize that one just doesn't need to play with the thermostat. If your house is well-insulated (and to an amazing extent even if it's not well-insulated) you set the thermostat for the temperature at which you are comfortable, regardless of what's going outside and you leave it there. And another thing which is rarely addressed is the fact that many (most?) people set the radiant flooring to 75 and are on the warm side of comfortable regardless of whether or not it's frigid outside. No matter what your source of heat, it takes less energy [and less $] for 75 than for 80°. Yes, if the cat stands in an open door peering out at a snowstorm there will be frigid draft coming in... no matter whether you have F/A or radiant. The difference is that F/A will have to warm up that cold air with more not-very-warm air and meanwhile you have both cold and F/A warm air blowing around you. Brrrr. With radiant, you have --and keep-- warm feet which physiologically makes you feel warm because the temperature of the floor has not changed. Yes, the open door's cold air is mixing with the warm air but it isn't blowing onto you to make you feel cold. Talking about vacations -- or a length of time away from home -- should take into consideration that radiant flooring does not make any ultra-high demands on its system. Radiant is meant to *maintain* an even temperature, not jerk it up with a blast of heat like other heating methods. So it makes sense to turn off a furnace while you aren't home because a furnace requires a blast of heat to warm the volume of air; long blasts for lots of warmth and short blasts when there isn't much difference between ambiant and desired air temps. Unless you are going to be gone for lots longer than it takes to cool-off followed by heating-up the radiant flooring, it does not make sense to change its temperature. Modern houses with radiant flooring are almost always considerably better insulated than their F/A counterparts, and it takes days not hours to cool off. And last, there are often comments about the length of time it takes to "warm up the house" with radiant heat. Especially if one lives in an area with a great variety of temperatures. Ah, excuse me, but if I'm comfortable at 75° what difference does it make what the temperature is outside??? If the house is highly insulated and draft-free it makes very little difference whether it's 10° or 50° outside. In my area outside temperatures with daily 40-degree variations are common for weeks at a time, regardless of season. Okay, not so common in the summer, but we don't need heated houses in August. On the rare occasion that it gets umcomfortably warm inside, I open the window. Low-tech but effective. Oh yeah, in July and August I turn on the A/C, not so low-tech, but effective. The point is, 75 is 75 is 75 and if your feet are happy at 75 it doesn't matter what temperature the outside air is. A 'warm house' is a side-effect of radiant because its main purpose is keep you comfortable, that is, maintaining your comfort with an even temperature....See MoreFol-up on 'Heat pump blows cold air on defrost'
Comments (5)tigerdunes: The installer is also the Amana service person. We have a 10 yr parts and labor contract w/Amana. I could call Amana and see if they will send over another company at no charge to us, but we thought if it was an install problem, then Amana wouldn't cover the service. So... 1) Is there any way we can tell if there is an 8kw heat strip installed? And, if it is, is there anyway for us to tell whether it is hooked up properly AND working properly? 2) Again, the installer/service person "tells" us it is working (i.e., he put the compressor into defrost, came inside and looked at something and said "yup, the heat strip is working") He has even called a couple other HVAC people to ask them questions while he was here. He feels since we are getting 36,000 BTU's of cool and only 30,000 BTU's of heat (with the 8kw strip) that it will always be colder. But what I've read on other posts is that the heat strip has a 30/70 and I wondered if perhaps in defrost mode that it is only operating at 30% capacity??? (Like I really know what I'm talking about, so forgive me if I'm WAY off base). We did have him adjust the CFM down to 1100. It was running at I think 1400 and the noise through the duct/vent was too much (the vents were cleared out, though). Also, in the summer, it would only run for about 4 minutes, not enough time to help w/the humidity in the house. When the temps are above 40, the "heat" runs for 9-15 minutes normally. If you or anyone else has any further info for me, let me know. Otherwise, I will try to get someone else to look at it. I'll let you know....See MoreWhat about us guys that don't have forced air
Comments (38)agreed, well said. I am in total agreement with snidely's comment: "Understand that in regions where many of us live, ground source heat pump installations are ridiculously expensive to buy and operate compared to available alternatives and the cost differences are huge. Cheaper prices would lead to more popularity, but until and unless that happens, such equipment will remain a small segment of the hvac market." in my 15 years in the efficiency business, I have had many clients who started their building process who wanted ground source heat pumps. By the time they figured out the actual costs & reliability of install, air source heat pump was the upgrade they chose. here in La. in my part of the state, the nearest ground source heat pump hvac company is 75 miles away. as they only do the install of the equipment, other parts are sub'd out locally. one company digging loops or verticals, the installer is over an hour away. cost of gshp is comparable several air source heat pumps. gshp@ $8,000 per ton...puts this install out of range of many homeowners in La. in my 15 years, not one client has chosen this equipment install. not that it isn't good equipment, performance & savings...but install cost is outrageous. I have a friend in Ok who's gshp install was $4000 per ton. for her 2 ton system..it was affordable with a reasonable payback. and installer was local to her, and experienced. just my experience with gshp vs ashp in La....See MoreNew Trane air handler -- terrible whistling noise in return
Comments (7)You stated the return is making the noise, but the main supply trunk may also me too small and contributing to the noise. Even if the ducts are not noisy, they may be too restrictive. This increases the static pressure and causes the air handler to work harder and eventually result in premature failure. The air handler can only put out what it takes in. Typically there is one return but several branches to the main supply. It thought you had hard ducts. The flexible duct can twist but not to the point where it is impeding air flow. I don't see how twisting makes the duct quieter. If that is the case, then see if you can make the noise worse by untwisting it. Take a look at Chart 4 at the link below. It says a 4 ton air handler needs a 16 inch and a 14 inch flexible return duct. I would want to see a second duct return added. Here is a link that might be useful: Rules and Rules of Thumb for Duct Systems...See More
Elmer J Fudd
2 years agomike_home
2 years agoHU-931799248
2 years ago
Therese N
2 years ago
sktn77a
2 years agosktn77a
2 years agoTherese N
2 years agoTherese N
2 years agowdccruise
2 years agolast modified: 2 years ago
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