(no subject)

[rootofnewt]

In many rooms of this house, the heat/ac vents are beneath windows. So, not only are they on exterior walls--they're right beneath uninsulated spots.

This seems highly inefficient to me.

I realize the original source of heat for the house was a central stove unit which was accessed via four rooms--that made sense--the heat was at the core of the house (the kitchen had a stove, which certainly warmed the room--it was only replaced last summer.)

Even with heavy curtains, we lose energy because of the placement of these vents. This irritates me. I want the windows for light, so I don't want to cover them over with mylar for the winter. I'm tempted to do so in the bedroom, however.

Comments

[firinel.livejournal.com]

We've the same problem and since our windows are the wooden originals, they're pretty draughty. since the computeroom has three exterior walls though, and most of that "exterior wall" is actually formentioned draughty windows, I'm thinking we're going to have to do the plastic sheeting thing in here if we're to have any hope of not freezing.

[windsea.livejournal.com]

We've just had some duct work done on our forced air heating, and among other things had a register opening re-located in the dining room, out from under the piano (don't worry, I'd blocked the register so the hot air *wasn't* cooking the piano :-).

When I asked the (very competent) HVAC chap where the optimal place was for the best air circulation/heating efficiency, he promptly said "under the window -- that's almost always the best place". After I picked my jaw up off the floor, he said that the cold air descending from the window mixes with the warm air rising from the register, and this lessens draughts and improves the overall circulation and system efficiency.

Go figure. He had no particular reason to tell me this if it weren't true, as it would have been easier for him to put the opening on a different wall.

Oh, and he was doing this for free -- I'd asked him to add it to the original job (which was re-routing the cold air returns), and he refused to add anything to the invoice. Nice, competent, pleasant workers are a joy to have around the house, and they even brought me back a coffee when they went for a Tim Horton's break :-0

[purplepaisley.livejournal.com]

When I asked the (very competent) HVAC chap where the optimal place was for the best air circulation/heating efficiency, he promptly said "under the window -- that's almost always the best place".

I've just heard the same thing. The furnace in the new house died six days after taking possession, and we're getting some duct work done at the same time as the installation. One room has no heating vents in it at all, and everyone (four estimates) is saying under the window is the best place. Go figure.

[krasota.livejournal.com]

I wonder if that still holds true when one has curtains. It seems the heat just goes up into the curtains and out the window.

And frankly, I don't think drafts are a BAD thing. The non-draftiness/superinsulated nature of modern construction is one reason we have so much mold these days. A little more drafts and the area becomes less friendly to mold and mildew. ;)

I grew up in a drafty old house. I've always been healthier in draftier houses, for the most part, with the exception of places that once held cats. Cats are pure evil and contaminate a living space for months.

[circumspectly.livejournal.com]

d'you have any of those vent hoods? if you don't know what they are, they are plastic hood dohickeys that have magnetized strips...well, see here.

[krasota.livejournal.com]

These are vents that are weird. I've never seen vent covers which would fit these. I'll try to take a pic at some point.

[knkdyke.livejournal.com]

Part of the reason the vents are there IS because that is the draftiest place in the house. If your window is letting cool air in your house, the best way to warm up that air is to have a vent directly in its path. Otherwise, you'd have warm air coming from one place and cold air coming from another place... you could theoreticaly have a weather front in the middle of the room. (picturing mini thundershowers in the living room at the moment... and a weather report... at such-and-such address, there's a cold air front coming in from the living room and a warm air front coming from the dining room, we could be looking at some nasty weather patterns in the vicinity of the hall... pardon me, it's late)

Anyhow, myowngrrl had a good suggestion. Those register covers are a great idea.

[krasota.livejournal.com]

I've never seen register covers that would work with this kind of register. They're weird. Baseboard, sticking-out thingies--not baseboard-heat, mind you.

[knkdyke.livejournal.com]

ohhh... are they actually in the *wall* and not in the floor?

[krasota.livejournal.com]

they come out of the baseboard.

i'll take pics. you might like to see the weirdness. i should show you our circuitbox, too. it's outside. be a pain in the ass if we ever have to flip a switch.

[knkdyke.livejournal.com]

ok... having the circuitbox is definitely weird.

the heat vents in the baseboard, that's not too weird. About half of the vents in my house come through the walls and the other half come through the floor. In my case, the ones that come through the wall are not near the windows, but the ones that come through the floor are.

so yeah, I feel ya' (as they say). I don't think I've ever seen those diverters for vents in the wall.

[krasota.livejournal.com]

http://www.explodingcat.com/krasota/stuff/vent1.jpg
http://www.explodingcat.com/krasota/stuff/vent2.jpg

Basically the same pic. You can see the lovely fake wood paneling, the nice (albeit scuffed) wood baseboard), the cream (new) carpet chosen by my landlord, and the rug on which we rest our shoes and boy's keyboards (the air is not remotely hot up where they are, due to the window being there)... the bottom of the asbestos (i kid, i think) curtains are visible, too.

too dark and cold to go take a pic of the circuit box. it's something our electrician swore at and rubbed his head at.

[knkdyke.livejournal.com]

Well, I agree with your electrician on the electrical box issue. One thing you might be able to do is find out if the outside circuit box violates some code or another. If it does, your landlord *must* have it moved.

As for the vents... sheesh. I'm not sure what to tell you.

What kind of heat do you have. I'm assuming it's forced-air something (gas, oil, electric). Are there any other vents in that room?

Sometimes, closing an inefficient vent actually increases the heat in the house, by routing the heat to a different vent which is more efficient.

[krasota.livejournal.com]

The other vent is under another window, behind our couch. ;)

here's a horribly rendered version of our front room (http://www.explodingcat.com/krasota/stuff/frontroom.jpg) ;)

As for the circuit box, it's actually considered safer than current fire codes. The old baseboard outlets were all brought up to code (couldn't even handle polarized plugs) when we moved in--the wiring is only 12 years old (when the AC/heat was put in). I'd guess forced air--natural gas. We have a big furnace unit in the pantry. The AC thingy is outside.