askjake

Heating partition

Can I place a partition in front of my water heater and my furnace?

- Jilian

Jillian,

Yes, you can place partitions in front of your hot water heater and furnace.  

Two things you need to be aware of:  access for future maintenance on the device and the clearance requirement that you will find on the label that is placed somewhere on the device.  A permanent factory applied nameplate is suppose to be affixed to all hot water heaters and furnaces.  On this nameplate you should find the clearance information that is needed to keep everything safe. 

Baseboard heating under cabinets

I would like to have a built in unit (bookcases and base cabinets) built on a wall with baseboard heating. How can I do this and have access to the heat?

- Jeanette

Jeanette,

Most baseboard heat is intended to “roll” up the wall, off the ceiling and back down, creating sort of a rolling heat wave.  By building bookcases over the heater, you might be adversely affecting the effectiveness of your heater.  I would suggest you look into converting your baseboard heat into toe kick heaters that install below the cabinets and direct the heat out of the toe kick and across the floor.  You can check out what I am writing about here.  These heaters are available in electric and hot water units.  

Rough carpentry, electrical and HVAC

Ben asks:

I am having a contractor open a walkway in a load bearing wall this week. However, he is only finishing the rough carpentry, and will not be moving the electrical outlet that ties to the upstairs as well, or the central vac connection. I am wondering if the moving of these mechanicals is harder after the contractor has completed his rough work, or if it will be of equal difficulty after rough work as it would have been before. And about the central vac connection, can that be flush mounted in the floor? The flooring will be 3/4" hardwood. Thanks! 

Ben

Jake's answer:

Ben,

Usually the rough carpentry is completed prior to the mechanical (plumber, HVAC and electrician) trades appearing on the job.  If some of the wires etc. have to be cut,  make certain to note how they were installed originally.  It’s not a bad idea to take some photos of the wall after it is opened up and before anything is moved out of the way – your tradesmen will appreciate this. 

Furnace and water heater in the garage?

Question from Mel:

Our house (on a slab) has 1/2 bath, furnace and water heater in the middle of the first floor (dividing the dining area and family room). Is it possible to move it (at least the furnace and water heater) to the garage or build a closet outside of the kitchen. Also planning to upgrade to a waterless tank.

Jake's answer:

Mel,

Yes, you can move the furnace and water heater to the garage.  I’m not familiar with the climate where you live, however, if you experience freezing weather, be careful of the water heater in your garage. You might have to build a closet for it.  When putting gas fired appliances in enclosed areas, such as a closet, take into account the make up air required to maintain maximum efficiency.  A down side to relocating these two items at the end of the house is that you will loose some efficiency since they won’t be centrally located. The air will have to “pushed” a little further and the hot water will have a little longer course to run. 

Central air for the second floor

Question from Chris: 

I'm looking at buying a cape with a finished attic (3 bedrooms, 1 bath upstairs). The house has central A/C only downstairs. The air handler is in the basement and the vents are all on the floor in the first floor rooms. What are my options for central air upstairs? The upstairs hall goes along the width of the house at the back edge of the roof until it runs into a bedroom on each side. The third bedroom and bath are in the center in front of the hallway. There are attic access doors in the rooms and halls.

Jake's Answer: 

Chris,

Thanks for writing.  To add central air for your second floor there are three options.  

Option 1 would be to set the air handler in the basement and find a space to run two large ducts to the attic space.  This space would have to be at least 30” square, something like a common closet through the first and second floor. These common closets, or “chases”, can be difficult to find. The supply and return air ducts would run on top of the ceiling joists and each room would have a supply and return air register.  

Option 2 would be to set the unit in the attic space behind one of the second floor walls.  The supply and return air ducts would run behind the walls and feed the bedrooms and bathroom.  Most likely it would require pulling some flex type ducts through the floor joists to serve the areas on the other side of the hall.  

The 3rd option, which often is the best, is to set the unit in the attic and let the ducts supply and return the air through the ceilings and walls of the bedrooms and bathroom.  This could also be the least expensive.  Two things to remember: return air is critical for an air conditioner to work properly, and seek the advice of a qualified heating and cooling contractor to complete the work.  This type of work will require a building permit. 

Fixing a cold basement

Question from Karl: My basement gets too cold when I turn the Air Conditioner on to cool the upstairs rooms in the summer. How can I fix this?

Jake's Answer: Karl, Basements will almost always be cooler than the rest of the house.  The cooling demand is much less than the rest of the house – virtually no windows or doors, walls that remain cool through out the year, and no sun load.

 

Here are some ideas:

• Make sure the door at the top of the stairs is closed, cold air likes to fall.
• Make sure you have adequate return air on the upper levels of your home.  Hot air likes to rise and proper return air helps to re-circulate. 
• Check for any leaks in your duct work and close any registers.
• Insulate your duct work.

Hopefully these ideas will help you.  

Cooling problem

Question:  I represent an investor from California who has rented a rehabbed house to a couple here in Independence. The renter states that the A/C is not cooling down the main living area. My investor put in a brand new A/C unit and thermostate. There is only one intake vent in living room and regular vents in each bedroom. Could this be the problem? If so, can more intake vents be installed easily and cheaply?

Jake's answer:  The problem could be a matter of not having enough supply registers, having the registers improperly placed, having inadequate return air, placing the termostat in the wrong place or having an improperly sized system, to name a few.  I would call the company that installed the system and have them determine why the cooling is not working up to the renter's expectations.    As a rule of thumb, a 12' x 12' room would require one register and one return air register.  Adding new vents on the first floor shouldn't be real expensive if the unit is in the basement and the basement is unfinished.  The job would get considerably more expensive if you have to tear out drywall to add more supply registers.

Changing a down draft to an overhead vent

Question: We bought a house with a down draft cooking island. We want to chang it into overhead hood. Can we put a vent pipe into the ceiling that leads to outside of the wall? Is this a silly idea or possible? how big the project is? who can do this usually? all suggestions are welcome! Thank you very much!

Jake's Answer:  "Silly" you ask, I don't think so.  There are so many cool hood vents on the market today.  Google hood vents and take a look at what is out there.  You can't go wrong.  Yes, you can put the vent pipe in the ceiling, this is how it is often done.  To get to the outside wall you will have to run the vent pipe parallel to the joist.  A professional kitchen remodeler can do this type of work.  It will include quite a few trades:  drywall, carpentry, sheet metal work, electrical, painting and general cleanup.  An overhead vent actually works better in my opinion.  Good luck and good cooking.

Moving a furnace and water heater

1. I live in a small ranch house on a concrete slab.  Would like to move furnace and water heater out of kitchen (in a closet) and into the next room (laundry room) in order to remove closet from kitchen.  Distance is approx 10 ft. We will tear out the closets that are now where we want the heater/furnace and build a wall between there and kitchen. Is moving water heater and furance a big job or fairly easy?      Lisa

Lisa,

It all depends on your definition of "easy".  To me, typically it is not easy to mover a water heater and furnace.  I'm not saying "impossible".  With the water heater you are talking about moving the gas line, water lines, flue and drain.  The drain in necessary in case the water heater leaks.  It is a good idea to have your water heater placed over a drain pan with a drain line to the floor drain. 

The furnace will require relocating the gas line, electrical, flue and the ducts.  This too could be costly depending upon the difficulty of resetting ducts.  You should have  have a qualified heating and cooling contractor look at the job.  In our area, I could see the cost being between $5,000 to $10,000 to move the two units.

Duct work

S1: I'm looking to purchase a house with a heat pump. The one that I like the most has the duct work running in the basement. This would not be an issue, but I plan to remodel it into a rec room. My question is this... can the duct work from the heat pump be moved from the basement to the attic ? This will help make my decision easier. Thanks...                     Matt

Matt,

You could move the duct work if your are really wanting to do a lot of work.  This would require running a main line from the furnace to the attic space, probably through a closet, then running the main line on top of the ceiling joist and branching off to the individual rooms.  Each room would have one or more ceiling registers.  Don't forget about your return air.  You may be able to keep it as it currently is.  In newer homes this is how they typically condition the second floor. 

Good luck and good remodeling.