Last week a customer called me to set up an appointment to remove his wall furnace and install a ‘regular’ furnace.  He heard about us from a friend that was impressed with our certifications (NATE Technicians, etc.).  After discussing his request further I discovered that what he meant by a regular furnace was a forced hot air furnace instead of the wall furnace that was in his home.  He had a problem and he needed a solution.

 

Pictured left, typical wall furnace – but this one is new.

 

The problem was that the wall furnace in his small home was not adequately heating the rooms, plus the doors needed to remain open when it was in heating mode to get warm air into the bedrooms.  This was not acceptable mainly because he did not live alone.

While surveying his home and presenting some sketches we discussed what was needed to convert the wall furnace (with no ductwork) to the forced hot air type (requiring ductwork). He was surprised about the need for ductwork, natural gas and electricity for the new location, but then realized what was needed to make it operational.

As a side note it has been my experience that many people (including some remodelers) do not make accommodations for the ductwork.  Sometimes we encounter additions with no crawl space and no attic space, no closets, etc. to place ductwork in thus no way to connect that new addition to any heating or cooling (which means no comfort).

To make this change from wall heater to forced hot air, design work is needed for an airflow plan, and energy to be provided to the new location of the furnace.  Planning and airflow is key for the forced hot air system.  This is especially true if air conditioning is added.

There are several common errors that you need to be aware of when non-HVAC professionals plan and install ductwork.  These include but are not limited to – lack of planning, installed supply ductwork, but no return air ductwork, vents only in the hallway and not in the individual rooms (to save money and aggravation, but the customer is rarely happy with this), vents directly next to the return air, etc.

Having a professional plan and execute this change can save a significant amount of time, money and much less aggravation – stay comfortable – hire someone that understands temperature comfort. Cold Craft has a complete sheet metal fabrication shop and access to great ductwork suppliers.  We offer excellent Value at a Fair Price.

 

If you need help with temperature, contact Cold Craft, Inc.

408.374.7292 or [email protected]