Situation: At first glance, the nearly-new furnace appeared to look alright, but on closer examination, I could see its flaws. Whenever you see an old flue pipe reused on a new furnace instead of new metal pipes, it’s a good sign that shortcuts have been taken. The furnace, air cleaner, and thermostat that the previous installer used several adjustable elbows twisted around to form a short section of pipe, told me that they did not care about quality. To add further insult, the stack of elbows made an ugly “S” shape. They did that to connect back to the old pipe that should have also been replaced, but was left untouched.

If that isn’t enough, the customer told me that they still had a too warm upstairs, even though the new variable-speed blower in the furnace was “promised” to eliminate hot spots. They had the installer’s service manager come back many times and make adjustments, but the results were all the same. The airflow through the registers was poor upstairs and too much elsewhere. I was very happy to have them call me back, even though they earlier hired the “cheaper” company.

Action: My measurements of the home showed that the ductwork had enough capacity to deliver the amount of air conditioning needed if the blower and coil were the correct size. There were no air balancing dampers in any of the main trunks or the round branches, and the furnace was re-connected to the original return duct elbow.

Results: The new furnaces are made shorter with a smaller opening for the return air, but if the furnace is set upon an air box, the blower will be able to deliver maximum volume with much less electricity and noise. The installation instructions clearly state that this air box is to be used but is rarely provided by other companies. We measured, fabricated, and installed a new air box, new larger return air elbow with a high-quality air cleaner, new cooling coil, and dampers in every duct. Immediately, the sound level dropped and the airflow increased. Even without adjusting the dampers, the airflow upstairs was vigorous. After sealing many duct air leaks and fine-tuning the dampers to balance the system, it performed better than expected. And, of course, we replaced the entire flue pipe with straight and tidy pipe and fittings.

In the customer’s own words: “After we made the changes, the once-frustrated but now happy client stated: “You and your crew knew how to install a system in a professional manner that makes a huge difference. Knowing how and doing it right was what was needed and you Anthony guys are the best.”