gettingcolder
10-07-2006, 03:14 PM
Last year me, my husband, and 2 kids moved into a restored farmhouse outside of Philadelphia, about 1825 sq feet; as is common with these houses, addtions have been made so layout upstairs is odd with a number of smaller rooms, downstairs has fewer, larger, open rooms.
The systems had been recently updated (previous owner was unexpectedly relocated), with a a 2 stage furnace in the basement (48,000/73,000) that serves the whole house, and with central air with variable speed air handler in the attic that serves the house by using 3 closet drops to the 1st floor.
As it just starts to get cool, it seems that the heating to the upstairs is uneven and a bit inadequate. Seems that too many ducts are shared with downstairs and who knows how large the ducts are in the walls. Also, registers are in the walls or kickplates in odd locations that do not distribute well. There are a/c supplies in each room upstairs.
My question is: Would it be possible to add a heating unit to the attic that will provide better heat to the upstairs through the vents that are currently there for a/c (each room has a ceiling diffuser). I realize that the difficulty would be having 2 systems running at the same time, but could it work if the basement system was set to the 1st stage?
I was considering calling in a contractor but wanted to see if it was feasible first. My husband says no way, that we just need to take out the sweaters and sleep with extra blankets. I think it's possible and would like to find out, particularly since the 2 rooms served the worst upstairs are the kids bedrooms that get Cold at night.
THANKS
The systems had been recently updated (previous owner was unexpectedly relocated), with a a 2 stage furnace in the basement (48,000/73,000) that serves the whole house, and with central air with variable speed air handler in the attic that serves the house by using 3 closet drops to the 1st floor.
As it just starts to get cool, it seems that the heating to the upstairs is uneven and a bit inadequate. Seems that too many ducts are shared with downstairs and who knows how large the ducts are in the walls. Also, registers are in the walls or kickplates in odd locations that do not distribute well. There are a/c supplies in each room upstairs.
My question is: Would it be possible to add a heating unit to the attic that will provide better heat to the upstairs through the vents that are currently there for a/c (each room has a ceiling diffuser). I realize that the difficulty would be having 2 systems running at the same time, but could it work if the basement system was set to the 1st stage?
I was considering calling in a contractor but wanted to see if it was feasible first. My husband says no way, that we just need to take out the sweaters and sleep with extra blankets. I think it's possible and would like to find out, particularly since the 2 rooms served the worst upstairs are the kids bedrooms that get Cold at night.
THANKS