Furnace and ducting problems. (1 Viewer)

[badmuthatrucka]

I am trying to help a friend who has a Goodman furnace. It looks as though whoever put it in did less than a half-a@@ job on it. It is hooked up to the same plenum as her roof mounted swamp cooler, but there is no way to cut off the air flow going to the cooler. So she is essentially heating the air above and outside of her house. She just got a $245.00 bill for heating yesterday, and can't keep up with that. It's only a 2-bed, 1-bath house, so that bill is ridiculous. I was thinking of putting in a piece of galvanized sheet metal, possibly with some styrofoam insulation on the cooler side of the sheet. Make it so it could slide in, be supported by some galvanized brackets, and slide out in the summer. Anyone in the HVAC world that could help me with this problem?

 

[MOfj40]

The blockoff plate would work fine. You can also purchase in-duct damper kits, allowing you to install a butterfly style damper into existing duct. You just need to get the duct dimensions before you order.

I'd tell you to check the gas pressure at the regulator, but it sounds like you probably don't have a manometer. It might be worth a service call to a reputable hvac company to have them check/set the regulator (abou $50-75 depending on area). If the gas pressure is significantly off it can cause a high bill due to the furnace running rich.

 

[badmuthatrucka]

Thanks for the tip on getting the gas pressure checked! I'm also gonna see about getting a damper.

 

[freebie]

Block off plate with the correct insulation is a better idea, dampers are exspensive and don't seal as well. Go to a HVAC shop and get proper duct insulation (won't melt) Cut your solt larger about 4 inches wide then get some angled pieces to act as a tray. Cut the insulation slightly larger then the duct for a good seal and if the air will be pushing up?? on the plate put angled pieces above to prevent liftoff and noise.
Your friend should have her furnace checked once a year by a good service company no matter what, although gas pressure could result in higher fuel costs it would have to be way off to cause a big difference and you would serious burner safety issuses to worry about.
A good service company will use a service check list that is very exstensive, as a guide to insure a complete check is done. Some companies will just have a look clean a few things and still charge the full call out, allways better with a professional service company.
Good luck