Thanks for your help folks. I got a handyman to come a take a look at
the duct issues, and we found that (a) the second floor bedroom and the
kitchen vents were connected to a pipe, but that pipe was capped and
was not connected to any hot air feed!! (b) the string in the duct pipe
did nothing since that particular heat pipe was open and was not
connected to any source (c) the furnace for some reason had a face
plate removed from one of the openings coming out of it which was open
and therefore was losing a lot heated air which also resulted in less
pressure from the working vents. The home inspector I had engaged
befroe buying the house should have caught these things....well he
didnt. Thankfully these are not too big issues and can be fixed.

Goadude

On Nov 1, 9:26 am, wrote:
JoeSpareBedroom wrote:
"Goadude" wrote in message
roups.com...

Thanks for your replies folks. I pulled the string (and tied it to a
screw so it remains pulled) and it seems to make no difference to the
air flow from any vent!!! Whats surprising is that there is an air vent
on the second floor in a bathroom adjacent to this room that not
getting any heat, and the air vent in that bathroom has a strong and
good air flow from the heat duct!!!

Who do I call for such probelms? A general contractor or a furnace
person?

Heating contractor. Speak to a few friends or neighbors first, for
recommendations. Some of these companies are hideous. Others are terrific.
You want to find a terrific one and stick with them for a long time.Also, as was suggested, a flashlight and mirror can go a long way to
figuring it out yourself. You want to try to trace the vertical duct
runs and see where they go from top to basement. Figure out which
vents have air, which don't and how they are interconnected. Have you
checked all the ducts in the basement to make sure they are connected?
It's very common for them to have joints covered with duct tape, that
deteriorates and then they come apart. For repair, use the aluminum
tape. Also, it's not unusual to find a vent that was never connected
at all during the install.- Hide quoted text -- Show quoted text -