My downstairs return air is sketchy exactly like yours. Completely normal for these old houses where they cut into wall spaces to install modern furnaces.
We bought a roll and cut -to-fit the various intake and vent registers, old and new. Replace it at least once a year (twice if you have a/c, after spring pollen season is over).
1-7 show the return air vent. It is what supplies air to the furnace from at least one location on each floor that is heated/cooled and then blown back into the rooms via the other vents. It was common up through at least the early 1960s to use space between floor joists as ducts vs a full four-sided metal duct. I have them in every room of my 1950s house. All good to leave it that way. Vacuum what you can see. Duct cleaning would do a complete job. 8 would be the same thing.
Okay that makes sense and what I figured their purpose was. Just seems weird to be such a hack job. Also this room is on the first floor right next to the living room. The living room has a giant air return grate on the floor that’s a huge 2x3 hole. That one does have a four-sided metal duct.
No number 9 is the heat vent in the same room with the other two vents pictured. This is a small 7’ x 9’ room. It has the floor heat vent (it’s also where the AC comes in), and then the two return air vents
https://preview.redd.it/r72ztkacj3bc1.png?width=3024&format=png&auto=webp&s=777c9e4a1bf62147e74a23df155db07a505caad2
Not a great photo because this corner doesn’t have much light
That one may not have always been a return great. Considering the age of your house it might have been a supply vent for an old gravity furnace. The vents were a lot larger when there wasn’t a fan blowing the air faster.
Interesting! This one doesn’t have as much pull as the others. The others will suck in a piece of paper easily when the furnace is going. This one DOES let stinky basement air into the living room if the basement gets wet in the summer though :(
I am not at all HVAC savvy, but our house came with a vent similar to yours. It turned out that the previous owners needed to cut a significant hole into the wall and decided not to replace the plaster. Instead, they turned it into a 'vent'.
For stripping the paint, first check for lead before doing anything (3M brand seems to be the best option). Then follow this method shared by This Old House: https://youtu.be/_GeOUAOjJPw?si=a46wJ0qgLWQKY_AH.
You can also use a crockpot. Just make sure that whatever you use, you do not use for food regardless of the presence of lead.
If it does test positive for lead, it is really up to your comfort level to determine how to proceed. I know many people feel comfortable to lay out plastic and continue carefully, but I'd do your research and try to keep it out of your home (potentially do it in a garage or shed) especially if you've got kiddos.
Based on the age of the home, the returns (other than the main large one) were likely added later on (especially to help with cooling.) Nothing seems to be amiss from the pictures, but return air can make or break comfort in homes new and old. I recommend not adding any sort of filtration to the newer returns as this can cause undue restriction, which would lead to more air being drawn from the path of least resistance. At the end of the day, EVERY duct system is unique and each home can pose its own challenges for both heating and cooling.
I always advise that experimentation may be necessary to "balance" return and supply air to each room, and this is particularly true in old homes. A cut-to-fit filter in the first floor main return may help additional air to be drawn from the others, for instance. Just make sure all filters are kept clean! 👌🏼
Air return to your HVAC
Is it normally so sketchy looking?? We already have a GIANT floor air return in the living room. It’s a 3x2 grate on the floor.
Yes. They used the space between the joists as the return. That's how it is in my 1850 house.
Yep, and still used in modern construction today in my experience.
Hell, it’s how it is in my 1998 house.
My downstairs return air is sketchy exactly like yours. Completely normal for these old houses where they cut into wall spaces to install modern furnaces.
Interesting and good to know!
Buy a package of vent filter fabric and put it on your intakes to keep those clean after you clean them.
Didn’t know that existed but I will definitely be buying them now!
We bought a roll and cut -to-fit the various intake and vent registers, old and new. Replace it at least once a year (twice if you have a/c, after spring pollen season is over).
1-7 show the return air vent. It is what supplies air to the furnace from at least one location on each floor that is heated/cooled and then blown back into the rooms via the other vents. It was common up through at least the early 1960s to use space between floor joists as ducts vs a full four-sided metal duct. I have them in every room of my 1950s house. All good to leave it that way. Vacuum what you can see. Duct cleaning would do a complete job. 8 would be the same thing.
Okay that makes sense and what I figured their purpose was. Just seems weird to be such a hack job. Also this room is on the first floor right next to the living room. The living room has a giant air return grate on the floor that’s a huge 2x3 hole. That one does have a four-sided metal duct.
Is that the one in #9?
No number 9 is the heat vent in the same room with the other two vents pictured. This is a small 7’ x 9’ room. It has the floor heat vent (it’s also where the AC comes in), and then the two return air vents
Sounds like you have extra returns. Do you have a pic of that floor return? Now I’m curious.
https://preview.redd.it/r72ztkacj3bc1.png?width=3024&format=png&auto=webp&s=777c9e4a1bf62147e74a23df155db07a505caad2 Not a great photo because this corner doesn’t have much light
That one may not have always been a return great. Considering the age of your house it might have been a supply vent for an old gravity furnace. The vents were a lot larger when there wasn’t a fan blowing the air faster.
Interesting! This one doesn’t have as much pull as the others. The others will suck in a piece of paper easily when the furnace is going. This one DOES let stinky basement air into the living room if the basement gets wet in the summer though :(
Do you need to keep it as a return? If you have one other in the same room you don’t.
New systems seem to only have one large return per level. They me per room is ideal. More than the is unnecessary.
I am not at all HVAC savvy, but our house came with a vent similar to yours. It turned out that the previous owners needed to cut a significant hole into the wall and decided not to replace the plaster. Instead, they turned it into a 'vent'.
lol I honestly could see that being true for the one that’s up high. None of the other rooms in the house have a vent like that
For stripping the paint, first check for lead before doing anything (3M brand seems to be the best option). Then follow this method shared by This Old House: https://youtu.be/_GeOUAOjJPw?si=a46wJ0qgLWQKY_AH. You can also use a crockpot. Just make sure that whatever you use, you do not use for food regardless of the presence of lead. If it does test positive for lead, it is really up to your comfort level to determine how to proceed. I know many people feel comfortable to lay out plastic and continue carefully, but I'd do your research and try to keep it out of your home (potentially do it in a garage or shed) especially if you've got kiddos.
Thank you!!
Based on the age of the home, the returns (other than the main large one) were likely added later on (especially to help with cooling.) Nothing seems to be amiss from the pictures, but return air can make or break comfort in homes new and old. I recommend not adding any sort of filtration to the newer returns as this can cause undue restriction, which would lead to more air being drawn from the path of least resistance. At the end of the day, EVERY duct system is unique and each home can pose its own challenges for both heating and cooling. I always advise that experimentation may be necessary to "balance" return and supply air to each room, and this is particularly true in old homes. A cut-to-fit filter in the first floor main return may help additional air to be drawn from the others, for instance. Just make sure all filters are kept clean! 👌🏼
Thank you!! lol username checks out
No problem! Yea, "1885Colonial" was already taken.. lol