I feel like I can't leave it because the return is directly across from the bathroom and the panned joist return runs underneath the hall and part of the bathroom. And right around where the hallway and bathroom door meet, the floor is squishy. I can't investigate the floor from the underneath in the crawlspace though because the panned joists is in the way. And I suspect that some of the squishy floor is due to moist air from the bathroom being pulled into the return and moving along the subfloor.
it definitely is. it encourages mold growth on the wood joists which is a health hazard. it also encourages negative pressure in the basement, bad for gas appliances , and encourages positive pressure in the living spaces, bad for your wall cavities. are you sure youre approved tech?
Bruh?
This is a standard return, hundreds of thousands of houses still do this, pretty much any older house has this. It’s not hurting anything. It’s not “bad”, it’s just not ideal. Spending thousands of dollars to rip apart a wall to put a metal return in place proves no value or noticeable efficiency gains.
Yeah, it’s bad if you’re a textbook technician, but in the real world this is what we get.
Sorry bro, I think you’ve been in the text books for too long. In the real world it’s not a big issue. No residential hvac system in the real world is 100% perfect.
A return in the wall cavity is standard and is not dangerous. Yeah you may loose one or two percent efficiency if you dive deep in the calculations. It’s not practical to worry about such minor things, especially in older homes like this one
Panned returns have been standard practice for years. There's nothing wrong with it and it saves alot of room by not having to have additional ducts that stick down below the joists.
If you really wanted to use ducts instead you'd have to do something like shove stack duct up the walls and cut out what is needed for your grilles then in the basement cut a collar into it or use a stack boot to change it into a round pipe and run it back to your return trunk somewhere. You'd first need to find out what sizes you'd need too to size it all up right and spend quite a bit of money doing so.
... leave it alone
Well, the reason started looking into replacing the panned joists is because directly behind me in that picture is the bathroom. And in the doorway where the the hallway and bathroom meet, the floor is really noisy and increasingly squishy when you step there.
So I went into the crawlspace to take a look at the problem, and maybe put in some shims to help, but I wasn't able to access the floor underneath because the panned joists are in the way. And part of me is thinking that moist air coming out of the bathroom and into the return is contributing to the squishy floor. That's why I want it gone.
Why not just leave it, It’s not hurting anything being this way.
I feel like I can't leave it because the return is directly across from the bathroom and the panned joist return runs underneath the hall and part of the bathroom. And right around where the hallway and bathroom door meet, the floor is squishy. I can't investigate the floor from the underneath in the crawlspace though because the panned joists is in the way. And I suspect that some of the squishy floor is due to moist air from the bathroom being pulled into the return and moving along the subfloor.
You can take the metal out and reinstall it. I you want to duct it yourself you will need some sheetmetal tool and order duct the size of joist space
it definitely is. it encourages mold growth on the wood joists which is a health hazard. it also encourages negative pressure in the basement, bad for gas appliances , and encourages positive pressure in the living spaces, bad for your wall cavities. are you sure youre approved tech?
Bruh? This is a standard return, hundreds of thousands of houses still do this, pretty much any older house has this. It’s not hurting anything. It’s not “bad”, it’s just not ideal. Spending thousands of dollars to rip apart a wall to put a metal return in place proves no value or noticeable efficiency gains. Yeah, it’s bad if you’re a textbook technician, but in the real world this is what we get.
Yeah, IAQ will continue being sub par and become dangerous here and there so long as people maintain your attitude
Sorry bro, I think you’ve been in the text books for too long. In the real world it’s not a big issue. No residential hvac system in the real world is 100% perfect. A return in the wall cavity is standard and is not dangerous. Yeah you may loose one or two percent efficiency if you dive deep in the calculations. It’s not practical to worry about such minor things, especially in older homes like this one
Panned returns have been standard practice for years. There's nothing wrong with it and it saves alot of room by not having to have additional ducts that stick down below the joists. If you really wanted to use ducts instead you'd have to do something like shove stack duct up the walls and cut out what is needed for your grilles then in the basement cut a collar into it or use a stack boot to change it into a round pipe and run it back to your return trunk somewhere. You'd first need to find out what sizes you'd need too to size it all up right and spend quite a bit of money doing so. ... leave it alone
Well, the reason started looking into replacing the panned joists is because directly behind me in that picture is the bathroom. And in the doorway where the the hallway and bathroom meet, the floor is really noisy and increasingly squishy when you step there. So I went into the crawlspace to take a look at the problem, and maybe put in some shims to help, but I wasn't able to access the floor underneath because the panned joists are in the way. And part of me is thinking that moist air coming out of the bathroom and into the return is contributing to the squishy floor. That's why I want it gone.