Return Ventilation Questions.
Hello -
We have a 2 story 1300 sq ft condo, built 4 years ago. Ever since we moved in, we've noticed a lot of dust buildup and a very loud return on our down-blowing furnace that requires us to turn up the TV every time it turns on. I recently removed the vents to take a look and was completely surprised at what I found!
There are only 2 returns in the whole house. One at the top of the stairs and one in the living room. Both seem to be abnormally placed:
The downstairs return is essentially placed behind the wall and fireplace. The builder told me that "it is still pulling enough air this way and that there is no need to move them." However, this return will not hold a piece of paper against it when the furnace is running. I'm thinking about moving them despite what the builder says... is this a bad idea?
The upstairs return is where all the sound comes from. When I removed the vent cover, I was shocked to see the actual return duct about 1 ft up and 2 ft back from the wall. Thus, I concluded that most of the return air is actually being pulled from within the big hollow wall and not the actual air in our house. It appears to me that the builder got lazy and didn't want to build out the ductwork to the wall because there are 2 2x4s in its path. My question is, if I build out some custom duct work and line it with duct lining, will this help quiet down the draft noise and help with our dust problems? Would you build it out to fit the hole in the wall or just use a combination of "tubes" (say 3 or 4) that would feed into the main duct as they did in our living room return?
Lastly, if I were to add return ducts in our 2 bedrooms by placing the vents in the ceiling, will that also help with the noise and dust?
I've attached some pictures that help a lot more than words. I'd love some feedback!
Cheers,
Tom
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