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We moved from WA state to SC several months ago and purchased a home here. It is a 2 story with 2500 sf and has dual heating and a/c units. The home has the high ceilings (9-10') and all the heating/ac vents are in the ceilings. All the homes that I have lived in previously had the vents in the floors on the ground level, and either in the floors or the ceilings in the upper level. Most of the homes back in Seattle don't have a/c, so I don't know much about what is "normal" when it comes to duct work and vents.
The problem I am finding here, is that, while this works well in the hot weather when the a/c is running, we are freezing in the winter! I have the thermostat turned down to 65 at night and 69 during the day. It is set to go from 65 to 69 starting at 7:00 am, but I am finding most mornings it takes nearly until noon to reach the 69 temp. We had the units serviced prior to the start of winter, and I have verified that warm air, is indeed blowing through the vents, but our house takes forever to warm up. I assume this is due to the fact that heat rises, and with the vents being so high up, it takes longer for the heat to build up and reach closer to the floor.
There is plenty of insulation in the attic and we have energy efficient windows, so that is not the problem.
Is this the common way for the duct work to be done for a dual system or did we just get a home that was poorly planned? If the venting in the ceilings is not the norm on a ground level, not to self for future home considerations - stay away from houses with high ceilings and vents in the ceilings on the ground level!
IF you do nto have a basement or crawl space, it is common to run the ducting through the attic with vents in the cieleings. Come to think of it, in the new part of our house (the part where they ahd a choice, all of the ducts are int he cielings, but then our ducting is for AC only. WE have radiated heat.
The OP probably cannot really do much other than try to "destratify" the temperatures -- I have seen a few different solutions. Some rooms, if they have really high ceilings, might work to use a large ceiling fan at very low speed in reverse to stir the hot air down, though in practice this creates some drsftiness in even gymnassium sized spaces. There are specialized "downdraft air circulators" without ducts that in theory could work, but in my experience unless you have like a four story staircase they just cannot push enough air "down" to offset the speed with which natural convection will have the heat rising. Another category of "destratifiers" involve ducts. Some are designed to look like a thin wall layer, others like a "stove pipe" that can hidden in corner and the most costly are designed to be installed in the walls. All have an inlet at the top,ma pusher fan in the middle and an outlet at the base. They can work well, especially with the right kind of high volume / low velocity fan BUT you have a huge decision about spending quite a lot to get a "hidden" unit or deal with aesthetics of a surface unit. I also believe that the studies I have seen suggest the additional cost of the unit(s) / installation / operation probably negates any savings from just not dialing down the heat at night...
In areas where A/C use overrides heating the better setup is probably with radiant heat, but retro fitting that is crazy expensive.
We had always lived in a place where all vents were all in the ceiling until we moved to Oklahoma. The only homes we'd ever seen that had vents in the floors were trailers, and it totally freaked us out. According to our real estate agent, and a heating a/c guy we know, it has to do with the number of cold days vs hot days each year. In places where heat might be used more than a/c vents were put in the floor. In places where a/c is used more than heat, they are put in the ceiling. New construction here is now being mostly done with all vents in the ceilings, because we now have more average warm days than cold, but apparently it used to be just the opposite. Our home is about 20 years old and has floor vents on the first floor and ceiling vents upstairs. I hate floor vents. They make furniture placement so much more difficult.
When I was having a home built in SC the builder took me aside and said that being from up north I was too worried about heating and in SC I should be more worried about cooling.
As was suggested, try running the ceiling fans in reverse on low. When you look up at the fan, if spinning counter clock wise it is in the heating (reverse) mode. If spinning lockwise it is in the cooling mode as for the summer.
When you look up at the fan, if spinning counter clock wise it is in the heating (reverse) mode. If spinning lockwise it is in the cooling mode as for the summer.
You got it backwards. Not bad considering you had a 50/50 chance.
The principle is evaporation- when the fan moves air across your skin it helps evaporate the moisture in/on your skin; thus, the cooling effect.
In the winter, you don't want the fan to push air directly onto you- you want to push the warm air at the ceiling down to the floor along the walls.
According to our real estate agent, and a heating a/c guy we know, it has to do with the number of cold days vs hot days each year.
Not even close-
It has to do with the type of construction.
With monolithic slab being the preferred choice of building foundations- the only alternative you have in order to run ducting is in the ceiling of the 1st floor and 2nd floor with the air handler in the attic.
Or, for a more energy efficient system- air handler in a closet on the 1st or 2nd floor with duct work in the floor system servicing the 1st floor in the ceiling and the 2nd floor by way of floor registers. The energy efficiency comes by way of the 'system' being within the thermal envelope of the house. As opposed to a house with a crawl space or basement where ducting can be run below the floor system, or an attic- both being unconditioned spaces.
Not even close-
It has to do with the type of construction.
With monolithic slab being the preferred choice of building foundations- the only alternative you have in order to run ducting is in the ceiling of the 1st floor and 2nd floor with the air handler in the attic.
Or, for a more energy efficient system- air handler in a closet on the 1st or 2nd floor with duct work in the floor system servicing the 1st floor in the ceiling and the 2nd floor by way of floor registers. The energy efficiency comes by way of the 'system' being within the thermal envelope of the house. As opposed to a house with a crawl space or basement where ducting can be run below the floor system, or an attic- both being unconditioned spaces.
Most all homes here in central OK are built on slabs, including the one I live in. The duct work in actually in the slabs.
Most all homes here in central OK are built on slabs, including the one I live in. The duct work in actually in the slabs.
Yes, there are exceptions- but few and far between. It's very expensive to do it that way. And for most production builders, that's not an expense they're going to take- especially when there are cheaper and less labor intensive way to achieve the same results.
This is probably a dumb question, but how do I get the ceiling fans to go in reverse mode?
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