You get what you pay for.

This is Aaron posting today. Whether we want it to or not, HVAC has now become part of our remodeling effort. Apparently, the previous owners had a "connection" with a heating and air conditioning contractor. We do not know the name of the contractor, but I would like to give them a little advice about installation in old homes. I am no expert, but in dealing with our house there are three simple rules to follow:
1. Plan your installation carefully
If you have cut the opening for the floor register one floor joist across from where you cut the hole in ducting, it is not appropiate to make a huge S trap with the 6" duct line in order to connect the register to the duct. As you may have guessed, the S trap was in the way and we had to move the duct over one floor joist. Thank goodness for the advent of insulated, flexible ducting.

2. Balance the system
We have a horrible problem of our basement and kitchen remain hot, while the rest of the house is FREEZING. Our system has plenty of capacity, but there is a lack of vents in rooms with lots of windows and there are no baffles to reduce air flow to different zones. Hence, the house is a single zone!!!

3. An ounce of craftsmanship goes a long way.
If you cut extra large holes in the walls and floor for the registers and ducts, at what point do you take a step back and realize this looks like dirt!! I should really try to make the holes the same size as the vent to preserve the look of the house.

Behold, the innocent little vent that caused us about 15 person hours-




And our beautiful new duct