Descriptio/ pictures of old heating system

Does anybody have a description how the old heating system/ forced air systems work in the brownstones? From where do they get the air and how do the ducts look like? Thanks

Guest User | 6 years and 6 months ago

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ellenlourie | 6 years and 5 months ago

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You might have leftovers of so called “school system” where air is taken from outside, goes through massive duct enclosed radiator in the basement and ducted into floor registers. It relied on partially open windows to establish natural gravity. So much about efficiency back in the days. Outside air intake probably was blocked , but indoor ducts stayed.

RobertGMarvin

in Heating and Cooling 6 years and 5 months ago

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I’m far from an expert, but FWIW in my house no heat comes from the return ducts.

Guest User | 6 years and 5 months ago

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Thank you Bob for you rapid reply! I do not quite understand where the supply ducts take their air from. We have two duct systems – a new one, where the supply ducts is in our living room and an old system where I do not understand where it takes its air from (I am searching for a weired smell in both rooms which are heated by the old return ducts – to explain why I want to understand that :). The smell also comes throught the floor, so the ducts do not seem to be something fully closed…could that be?

RobertGMarvin

in Heating and Cooling 6 years and 6 months ago

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An old forced air system (with a fan), or a REALLY old gravity system (no fan)? Our house has a
c. 1965 forced hot air furnace that must have replaced the 1899 (originally coal-fired) gravity hot air furnace. The replacement has rectangular ducts in the cellar that replaced the original octopus-like round ducts. They feed into the old ducts and registers in the walls.

The previous owners, who changed the furnace, also had two return ducts and registers installed in the ground floor hallway and a new duct and register in the kitchen, which wouldn’t have needed to be heated by the furnace when it had the original coal stove and attached hot water heater. It must have been VERY cold there between the time they replaced the original stove with then ’30s gas range we found when we bought the house and the installation of the “new” furnace.

The air for the furnace comes through the two return ducts. The original set-up it must have used whatever air infiltrated into the cellar.