Help I can't sleep!

We just had an attic forced air gas heating system installed as part of
an addition. The heat system is FAR from quiet. The heating
contractor has already been back once and says he doesn't think he can
make it much quieter.

I have found by removing a vent cover that the problem is almost 100%
due to the air noise created as the air flows through the supply and
return vent covers. No covers, no noise, period. Right now he has the
supply covers as concentric square louvered vents, with a damper behind
the concentric squares. The damper is fully open. For the returns, he
has grills with 1/4" slant fins. These whistle like crazy and HAVE TO
GO.

I've asked him to slow down the heating fan (it has 4 speeds), but I
don't know which speed he has it on now. Obviously too low, and we'll
lose efficiency.

We're only heating one master bedroom (plus bathroom and walk in
closet) with this system, so I'm considering removing the damper
portion of the vents, as I don't think I need it.

Does anybody have a product recommendation for a quiet vent. The vents
are on 10" mount boxes fed by 8" flexi tube (I think).

Thanks,

-Jim Heck

had same problem. the original floor registers in my living room had
adjustable louvers on them, and were noisy. i took the louvers off
(with force) and put the grill back, much quieter.

i often wish i had installed cheaper forced hot water system. The noise
of my forced air
system is very annoying. But, with it we have central air, so we get
noise all summer too!

Yes it is hung from the roof rafters. I'm fairly certain the noise I'm
hearing is noise created right at the vent from air flowing through. I
removed one of the ones with slant fins, and it went from locally noisy
(a whooshy whistle) to virtually silent in that area.

The room is about 500 sq ft. It has 2 8inch flexible supply lines
terminating in 10" boxes, and 2 8inch flexible return lines also from
10" boxes. There is a lot of air being sucked through (though I
don't think the fan is at max, perhaps medium). Is that sufficient
ducting for a room that size?

-Jim

If a supply is near the furnace more air and furnace noise will come
out that supply, if it is reduced when removing the grill and full flow
is not needed maybe a closeable line damper at the furnace might help by
reducing flow a bit. Temp rise must be measured on any install at just
above the coil and a return at the furnace, I lowered my fan and found
out I was wrong as temp rise exceded the specs in the manual, to high is
bad for the coil, if its on its normal low and is to high it indicates a
sizing issue of ducts not alowing enough airflow. If its loud now how is
it with the AC on, AC has max fan speed. Maybe your installer did not
size everything right, Hire a second opinion.

m Ransley wrote:
Try calling the manufacturer first, they might send someone out. Alot
of instals are by hacks.

Try installing a grille with 1/2 inch spacing between fins, those will
be quieter. Better yet get aluminum commercial grilles with 2/3 inch
between fins. They are much quieter, but they cost more. Your
contractor should be able to get them, but he is likey to cahrge extra,
especially if you beat him down on the price. Getting low bid usually
bites you on the a--.

Stretch

On 24 Apr 2006 04:55:06 -0700, "heckheck" wrote:

Help I can't sleep!

We just had an attic forced air gas heating system installed as part of
an addition. The heat system is FAR from quiet. The heating
contractor has already been back once and says he doesn't think he can
make it much quieter.

I have found by removing a vent cover that the problem is almost 100%
due to the air noise created as the air flows through the supply and
return vent covers. No covers, no noise, period. Right now he has the
supply covers as concentric square louvered vents, with a damper behind
the concentric squares. The damper is fully open. For the returns, he
has grills with 1/4" slant fins. These whistle like crazy and HAVE TO
GO.

I've asked him to slow down the heating fan (it has 4 speeds), but I
don't know which speed he has it on now. Obviously too low, and we'll
lose efficiency.

We're only heating one master bedroom (plus bathroom and walk in
closet) with this system, so I'm considering removing the damper
portion of the vents, as I don't think I need it.

Does anybody have a product recommendation for a quiet vent. The vents
are on 10" mount boxes fed by 8" flexi tube (I think).

Assuming that the noise you're objecting to is generated at the
grill, and not deeper in the system:
Swap the 10" box for one that's twice as big. Since the
8" supply tube limits the amount of air you're getting,
doubling the size of the outlet will mean you get
the same amount of air at half the speed.