Having grown up in FL and living with central AC/Heat my whole life, my opinion is that you can never have too many returns. When I had AC put in this house, I had a return put in every bedroom as well as main hall etc. While stacking HW and HVAC may save space, what about service/maintanance? Some installations can be really noisy. Have you discussed this with installer? Have you looked at "variable speed" air handler? I will never be without one again. Much easier to live with than regular fan system.

Is a return the vent the air comes out of once it has been cooled?

Maybe the noise issue is why the architect has enclosed the air handler and has it taking air in through the laundry room.

Can you explain a variable speed air handler?

The one we have here seems either to be on or off.

Is air handler placement (regarding air draw) less important than I think it is?

Would it be alright then to have it draw air from an encloed laundry room, rather than to have the part that draws the air in facing the main portion of the house?

I know some people put them in the attic.

Maybe I need to learn more about how they work.

Still, it's funny the architect has it set up that way when he knows that I wanted a shelving system in the utility room behind the air handler.

Or maybe they just aren't as complex as I thought.

Thanks!

Barbara

Barb:

"Is a return the vent the air comes out of once it has been cooled?"
- No, that's the supply air. The return air (or recirculated air) is sucked from each room usually thru vents near the top of the walls (for summer).

"Maybe the noise issue is why the architect has enclosed the air handler and has it taking air in through the laundry room."
- Probably. Just make sure there is enough room in that closet for maintenance. You don't want to have to tear out the walls of that closet to replace a major part.

"Can you explain a variable speed air handler?"
- An air handler has either a fixed speed fan or a variable speed fan. A v-s fan motor can vary its speed to put out a constant volume of air under different ductwork conditions. A v-s fan can also be slowed down to remove more humidity in the summer time. They are now common in new residential installations but are very expensive to replace ($1000) if they fail out of warranty.

"Is air handler placement (regarding air draw) less important than I think it is?"
- It depends weather this is a furnace (gas/oil/propane) or just a plain air handler for a heat pump or straight a/c. If it's a furnace, then yes it matters because the furnace needs combustion air. If its not a furnace, then it doesn't really matter because the air handler is used to supply cooled/heated air and return/recycle the house air.

"I know some people put them in the attic."
- I don't recommend this. Too damn hot in the attic, especially in Florida. This will effect equipment operation as well as maintenance.

Keep asking questions.

Best to you.

Thank you ~ sincerely, thank you.

:)

Barbara

I have a similar query on air handler location. My AC company insists the only good location is my Garage and I'm told they'd have to put protective "Bollards" ? around it to protect it from my car hitting it. I asked how far these bollards would extend into my garage space , but frankly can't get a straight answer and concerned that I'll not get my car in. It's a smallish home with an attached, not so huge Garage.They'd have to allow some distance as the filter access is on the front of the air handler.

"You can't have too many returns"? thats ridiculos. returns are based on load calculations. Noisy installation? Get over it. those guys bust their ass and they'll be gone in 8 hrs.