In article ,
dpb wrote:


If you've closed off all the unused rooms it may well be you don't have
enough return air path left upstairs if there isn't a return in hallway
of sufficient size, for example.


The returns do not have a way to close them like the registers. So if I
just close the doors to the rooms would that mess me up like this
concern?

Check where the distribution ducts are--did they run upstairs in attic
and are they adequately insulated? Do you have trouble w/ heat in
winter as well (being cool upstairs instead of hot, of course)?
Attic and they have the greyish coverings. Don't know if that is
adequate, but it was standard.
The upstairs is cooler in the winter than downstairs, but not so
much that it is uncomfortable. There can be a 10 degree difference in
the summer, and I have never seen more than 5 in the winter. Probably
related to heat rising.


The trick will be to get more upstairs by closing off downstairs w/o
cutting it off too much. If you were lucky and there was an adjustable
damper in the main plenum where it splits for the two floors, that would
be good...
Not that I can see near the furnace in the basement. Any place else
wouldl not be accessible.


Keeping circulation going and a ceiling fan in the upstairs rooms would
undoubtedly help comfort even if doesn't change airflow that much.

Okay. I am wondering if I should reopen (1) the doors and/or (2) the
registers in the upstairs closed down rooms as a first cut.



One thing in this trying is it'll take time--make a change and observe
it for at least a couple days before doing something else or you'll
never get anywhere about figuring out what does/doesn't help w/o a real
measurement.

--

--
"I found what I thought was a REALLY good book,
called _Girl to Grab_. Imagine my surprise when I found
out it was volume 6 of the *Encyclopedia Britanica*!"
-Martin Mull