Duct problem?

[FreezingInOhio]

I have a problem with a fairly new heat pump system in a condo I bought a year ago (built in late-1980s). The hallway, room and bathroom nearest to the indoor components warm to the temperature I set the thermostat to and are comfortable. But the living room, bedroom and second bathroom on the other end are significantly cooler in winter. The bedroom, the room farthest from the furnace gets pretty frigid on nights when the temp outside drops into the low teens and single digits. So something obviously isn't right. I suspect the ducts because while warm air flows out of the two registers in the warmer areas, cooler air flows weakly out of the other three registers. Does this sound like a duct problem? A hole in it or what could it be?

What kind of tests or inspection should I expect a qualified professional to perform to correctly determine what and where the problem is? The condo is on the second floor of a two-story building. The cold areas have a high ceiling, no attic. The registers and ductwork are all in the ceiling. The walls could probably use better insulation, but this doesn't appear to be the main cause.

[heaterman]

Sounds like the ducts are running through an unconditioned space and are lacking insulation.

[sktn77a]

Check to see if any of the ducts have their dampers closed off (unlikely the cause, but easy to check). This would reduce airflow to those rooms and allow more time for the air to cool in the ducts, if they are in an unconditioned space. But as the poster above said, it's most likely due to the heat loss over the longer duct distance involved. You could increase airflow to the distant rooms (by partially closing down the dampers to the rooms receiving most of the heat) which would help somewhat, but you may need better insulated ductwork there to properly correct the problem.

[dash]

Restrictions to air flow,like dirty filters,dirty cooling coil,or restrictive filters(like 1" pleated),will reduce airflow to the rooms farthest from the indoor unit,much more then the closer ones.

Lack of a return duct in the farthest rooms,will also reduce supply air if the door(s) are closed.

Could any of the above be part of the issue??

[tedkidd]

Get a comprehensive home assessment. See what program your state has - to participate contractors have to be accredited and the state had the contractors nuts in a vice - they need to do work to BPI Standards or risk losing this expensive to obtain certification. This is a HUGE consumer protection mechanism. Try BPI.ORG

There are a whole lot of things this could be, and you could spend a lot of money chasing ghosts until you get the big guy, or you can get a report prioritizing your fixes with ancillary benefit of energy reduction.