Heating Duct Issues

7 years ago

I have a 30+ year old Cavco home that I inherited from my parents after their passing. Overall, the house seems to be in fine shape, but we're having an issue with the heating system. The house was laid down North to South with the living room in the East section and the kitchen in the South. The problem is that not all the vents in the East half will blow much air. West half seems to work fine, but the East, not so much.

The only clue we have as to why is that we opened up the skirt and, while the wind was blowing, we could feel a slight breeze coming up from them. This makes me think that the vents are somehow open/broken and catching the wind, but the only hole in that theory is that even the vents that are working show a little breeze too. Could be some kind of back-pressure, I suppose.

I haven't crawled under the house yet to see if I can locate the exact problem. I'm hoping for a little advice to tell me if I'm correct and/or to tell me where I might look regardless of my theory or not.

All that said, this is a summer home, so the issue of heating isn't all that critical, but it would still be good to understand the problem, especially if it might allow critters to get in the house or if there are any other potential issues with the problem.

Any and all clues appreciated.

Featured Answer

User

7 years ago

There is no issue ever that can be better diagnosed from 3000 miles away as from flat on your back with a flashlight under the house.

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Comments (8)

User
7 years ago
OK, so we have a modular home here, is it a double wide, by any chance? If it is, then the next question is where is the blower unit located, in the East or West section? The chances would be high that a connector or two is misaligned or gapping, especially if the unit is on the west half.
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Ed Dana
Original Author
7 years ago
Excellent, thank you, that's a much better response than the previously snarky one. ;)

Yes, it's modular and double-wide, sorry I wasn't clear on that. The blower is in fact located in the west half. I mistyped when I said the Kitchen was in the south, it's in the west section next to the laundry. The blower is there too.

So, you say it's a connector. Where might that be located? I'm assuming under the house. When I did first start diagnosing the problem, I could not see anything obvious under there, so... do I access it from underneath? Or is it that the blower needs to be lifted out to get at the connectors?

Once again, any and all clues (not diagnoses) appreciated. :)
User
7 years ago
Ignore the spam above. Now, onto the issue...

The double was moved as two separate pieces that were connected on-site. The duct work is generally buried in the insulation on the underside of the floor of the home. The best thing you can do is try to determine how your ducts run. Draw a rough outline of the home with all the ducts marked, then, if possible, look into the ducts using a mirror and a flashlight. Try to figure how all the ducts link together, and while doing so, you will also be seeing if there are any visible issues (varmint damage, holes, disconnections, etc).

The two sides will generally have a connecting duct close to the blower that feeds the air on the "otherside" of the home from the unit, and this is the first place to look for issues. There should be some access in the insulation where the connection was made, if you need to access that point. Other points may require damaging insulation to access ducts.
User
7 years ago
The spam referred to was the now absent, typical, minisplit post.
sktn77a
7 years ago
I wish Houzz would ban this idiot!
Ed Dana
Original Author
7 years ago
And again, thank you. Excellent advise all around and will hopefully help me figure out where I need to go when I finally do have to crawl underneath.
cat_ky
7 years ago
last modified: 7 years ago
Do you get any heat and air out of any of the vents?? Is it possible that some of the vents you are thinking should put out heat and air, are actually cold air returns? Just a thought. I am not familiar how things actually work with a double wide.