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Residential zoning has evolved since your system was installed as a lot was learned by doing things incorrectly. Running the system in a constipated manner with dampers closed proved to be counter productive for the occupants, efficiency, and equipment. In fact, many damper mfgs are making dampers that don't close all the way or are barometrically opened as duct pressure increases with closed zones. Return bypass dampers are a thing of the past as well for good reason. Modern solutions can resolve your problems.
Residential zoning has evolved since your system was installed as a lot was learned by doing things incorrectly. Running the system in a constipated manner with dampers closed proved to be counter productive for the occupants, efficiency, and equipment. In fact, many damper mfgs are making dampers that don't close all the way or are barometrically opened as duct pressure increases with closed zones. Return bypass dampers are a thing of the past as well for good reason. Modern solutions can resolve your problems.
thanks again. That was helpful. By "dampers", you mean something on the furnace itself that opens and closes and not closing a register in an unoccupied room, right?
Some dampers can be manually operated for balancing purposes...usually in the ductwork but you'll also have regulators at the grill which should be left open and others are part of the zoning control. I was referring to the latter but in actuality the same applies to the manual variety.
The ideal scheme is what Carrier does that I mentioned in an earlier post. They realized that equipment and efficiency need "full flow" of air thru the equipment. What they do is use oversized ductwork and direct the majority of "full flow" to the area demanding a change in temperature and the balance of full flow to the areas not demanding a change equaling 100%. Older zoning schemes would simply close a damper or two and let the flow back up or they'd put in a bypass damper between the supply and return short circuiting the house. The bypass in crude terms is like eating your own poop...not healthy. If you don't have oversized ductwork where the demanding zone can deliver near 100% full flow, your system has a lot of room for improvement. Multi stage equipment helps match the "full flow" with the demand which is what large commercial buildings have been doing for years and residential systems can now do. Think of it like a transmission. The simplest way to match equipment for zoning is to use 2 stage equipment and have two zones of nearly equal size....upstairs/downstairs or living/sleeping.
If you want a better understanding of what matters and what is possible google "best zoning scheme for residential hvac" and prepare to be bored to death.
Some dampers can be manually operated for balancing purposes...usually in the ductwork but you'll also have regulators at the grill which should be left open and others are part of the zoning control. I was referring to the latter but in actuality the same applies to the manual variety.
The ideal scheme is what Carrier does that I mentioned in an earlier post. They realized that equipment and efficiency need "full flow" of air thru the equipment. What they do is use oversized ductwork and direct the majority of "full flow" to the area demanding a change in temperature and the balance of full flow to the areas not demanding a change equaling 100%. Older zoning schemes would simply close a damper or two and let the flow back up or they'd put in a bypass damper between the supply and return short circuiting the house. The bypass in crude terms is like eating your own poop...not healthy. If you don't have oversized ductwork where the demanding zone can deliver near 100% full flow, your system has a lot of room for improvement. Multi stage equipment helps match the "full flow" with the demand which is what large commercial buildings have been doing for years and residential systems can now do. Think of it like a transmission. The simplest way to match equipment for zoning is to use 2 stage equipment and have two zones of nearly equal size....upstairs/downstairs or living/sleeping.
If you want a better understanding of what matters and what is possible google "best zoning scheme for residential hvac" and prepare to be bored to death.
OK - the furnace itself is a single stage furnace. It's an American Standard Freedom 90 Single Stage. Says it right on the furnace itself. I assume that since the actual furnace is set up as a single stage, it's not something you can fix - you'd need to get an entirely new furnace, I would think?
...you'd need to get an entirely new furnace, I would think?
Pretty much. You'd need to replace the gas valve, inducer assy, the circuit board, and make some wing changes. Spending 1500ish on a 10 year old heat exchanger probably wouldn't be wise and you'd have to find a contractor willing to accept the liability.
What you can do until the eventual furnace failure is to upgrade the zoning board/scheme and establish a relationship with a good contractor.
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