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September 23, 2008
Heating question
We recently purchased a four-story brownstone with forced air heating. Does anyone know if there is a mechanism or device that can be installed which permits us to adjust the temperature on different floors? In other words, on cold winter nights, we would want the floor on which we sleep to be well heated, but ideally we would have some way to lower the temperature on the other floors (versus having heat blasting throughout the entire house unnecessarily). If such an arrangement is possible, does anyone have any leads on how much it would cost to have installed and what installment entails. Thanks.
Comments
No idea what it costs but you're probably looking for something called an automated zone or volume control damper.
It can be either a conventional heating register or a section of ducting with a motor that opens or closes based on an external signal. The damper is driven by a 24V motor or solenoid so the power line is sometimes run inside the duct itself. The dampers could, in turn, be controlled either manually or by a computer employing a timer and/or wireless thermostats inside the rooms, perhaps using something like Insteon protocol.
Won't be cheap though.
Posted by: Steve at September 23, 2008 6:03 PM
I believe any heating guy can help you with this...you need to have "zones"...Im not sure if you can do this on a pre existing ststem though.
Posted by: nybk01 at September 23, 2008 6:13 PM
I have the same system. The simple solution is to close or partly close the heating vents on the "other floors". This will drive more air to the desired area, as outflow to the other rooms is decreased. This would also allow you to reduce the temperature if you like and save cash. This has worked very well for me and doesn't cost a dime!
Posted by: cmontgom at September 24, 2008 9:41 AM
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