Question for residential HVAC experts

[Bru]

How unusual is it to have return registers on the floor, versus up high?

I had carpet installed on the first floor of my house and the carpet guy plugged two return registers that were on the floor, which were two of three return registers on the whole first floor - the other is up high in another room. He said they shouldn't be there, and didn't consult with me before filling, and also isn't an HVAC business so didn't offer to relocate higher to where he said they should be.

After that, the furnace ducts clunked on startup and shutdown, and struggled to keep the house at a consistent temp. The ducts constricted when the blower motor was on like trying to suck through a clogged straw, and relaxed when off, which was the clunking. I opened up the return ducts from the basement and it alleviated the clunking, and the house maintains temps wonderfully now.

I reached out to the guy to reverse his blocking of the vents, and he's doing it, but maintains that they shouldn't be on the floor. The house was built in 1989, so is this unusual? Why would the builder put the return registers on the floor?

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[Gone_2022]

Our first floor returns are lower in the wall at our house. There are a ton though. 1 or 2 in every room. They are not on the floor though.

The second floor has them all up high on the walls.

I’ve never heard of a return actually on the floor like a supply vent. You would think that would attract a ton of dirt.

 

[Bruce Jibboo]

so the supplies and return vents are both on the floor?

 

[jason05gt]

Mine supply registers are on the floor and the returns are high on the wall.

 

[Bru]

The two returns that were filled were on the floor like supply vents, and about three feet from each other, but in the other room there's a single return vent up high. Upstairs, there are return vents up high in every room.

The air paths themselves in the basement are about 16 inches wide, each, and 8 inches tall, so it seemed like a significant amount of air to restrict from the furnace. I only self-diagnosed so really have no clue what's happening.

 

[Bruce Jibboo]

where are the supplies in the room with the two return vents that are 3' from each other.

 

[Bru]

Clear across on the exterior wall. The returns are on the interior wall.

 

[FESTER665]

I'm guessing it depends where the mechanicals are and the age of the home really. At my parents house (raised ranch built in the late 60's) the return is actually in the floor in the upstairs hallway because it's right above the furnace central to the upstairs rooms.



The downside is a 18"x30"ish size grate in the hallway floor.

 

[Bru]

The utility room is directly under the returns.

 

[boostedguy05]

I'm guessing it depends where the mechanicals are and the age of the home really. At my parents house (raised ranch built in the late 60's) the return is actually in the floor in the upstairs hallway because it's right above the furnace central to the upstairs rooms.



The downside is a 18"x30"ish size grate in the hallway floor.

My parents house also has the return in the floor. same neighborhood so it does not shock me they are the same. and 1/3 odds have the same style build house.

 

[Bru]

Any other ideas?

 

[Bob Kazamakis]

The utility room is directly under the returns.

Are the walls open in the utility room? I’d relocate to the wall then. It’s ideal that the air flows thru the room (which I’m sure you’re aware)

[MENTION=111]OffshoreDrilling[/MENTION]

 

[Gav'sPurpleZ]

Are the walls open in the utility room? I’d relocate to the wall then. It’s ideal that the air flows thru the room (which I’m sure you’re aware)

[MENTION=111]OffshoreDrilling[/MENTION]

he's fishing

 

[Bob Kazamakis]

he's fishing

He’s ALWAYS fishing

 

[Bru]

Are the walls open in the utility room? I’d relocate to the wall then. It’s ideal that the air flows thru the room (which I’m sure you’re aware)

[MENTION=111]OffshoreDrilling[/MENTION]

They are. The other vents go straight up to the second floor from the room.

 

[RICH17]

I just wish my house had more that a single feed vent in the kitchen

 

[mat0485]

I read your post and none others.

1st you need those 2 blocked off and as you discovered your furnace requires that air to work. you risk damaging the blower, excessive noise and energy consumption. your air conditioner car freeze up and your furnace heat exchanger can over heat and crack.

2nd it is very weird that they are on the floor, usually thats a design of an 80yr old home. odd. id leave them as is.. probably not worth the cost, energy and effort to relocate.


hope this makes sense

 

[EmersonHart13]

I just wish my house had more that a single feed vent in the kitchen

I have no feed in my kitchen... I need to work on that, its annoying

 

[Vogz]

My returns are up high on the first and second floor. My returns in the finished basements are shin level. (allows them to suck in the coldest air which is beneficial in both the summer and winter down there.)

 

[Bru]

I had the carpet installer re-open not only the two I knew about, but a third he covered in the next room. The ducts don’t clunk anymore and it evened out the pressure on the first floor - before, the basement door (in the fam room where the two ducts were covered) would shimmy when the blower turned off like someone was pushing from the other side, and it doesn’t anymore. The guy fought me the whole way too, saying it won’t make a difference.

 

[boostedguy05]

Ya, cuz a carpet guy is an expert hvac guy. F him.

 

[Kensington]

Not to hijack, but just had a new furnace, coil, condenser installed yesterday. Guy installing said the old job was a real piece of shit, but what really bothered him was that I only had 2-8" trunks for the entire house. Each trunk feeds 5-6 vents...he said he would usually have a single 8" trunk serving at most 2-3 vents, cutting down the vent size the farther down the line he went. I've always had trouble with air flow throughout the house, so what he says makes sense, but I'm not sure what I can really do about it...There's barely room in the furnace/hotwater heater closet for the tin that's in there now...

 

[Bru]

As far as airflow, I think it’s irresponsible to simply guess because of how it works in another house. There are tools to measure airflow, pressure and differentials to determine specifics of design and to maximize airflow.

 

[OffshoreDrilling]

The only time floor returns are utilized is in central return where you have one large return, that I’ve seen at least. Most of the time they will be up high. But yeah, absolutely don’t block them. You can hardly trust an HVAC contractor, forget a fucking carpet guy. The clunking noise is the duct collapsing from the excessive differential pressure.

 

[OffshoreDrilling]

As far as airflow, I think it’s irresponsible to simply guess because of how it works in another house. There are tools to measure airflow, pressure and differentials to determine specifics of design and to maximize airflow.

Unfortunately outside of custom homes, the builder is going to shortcut as much as possible. It’s pretty damn easy to do calculations on airflow needed in the design phase.