Today's
TECHNOLOGY AND YOU

Q: Several rooms in our house are always chilly. We set the thermostat higher to compensate but this increases our utility bills. Will replacing our old rusty floor registers with new decorative wood or plastic adjustable registers help? - G. D.

A: Your problem with uneven room temperatures is common. If you have central air-conditioning and have a two-story house, the problem likely is worse in the summer.

Setting your furnace thermostat higher to compensate is the worst thing to do. It drives up your utility bills because the other comfortable rooms in your house tend to overheat. After you are in those warmer rooms for a while, the other rooms just feel chilly again. The louvers in old metal registers generally do not adjust or seal well enough to be of any real help.

There are several low-cost methods to balance out the distribution of heated air throughout your house. Installing new floor registers, with effective adjustable air louvers, is one method. If your finances are limited, you can install several low-cost, yet effective, plastic ones and then gradually replace all of them as your budget allows.

These registers have a tight-fitting louver slide designed to give precise control over the amount of air flowing out of the register. Several plastic designs have thin scented or washable filters built into the register. These are ideal for allergy sufferers. The filter helps to catch any dust that has accumulated in your ducts. You can easily remove the filter and wash it without removing the entire register.

If your budget is more flexible, the most elegantly designed registers are made from solid brass, iron or aluminum castings. These are highly polished and finished with a tough epoxy or baked lacquer finish. One solid metal register, by Reggio, uses a decorative circular section as the adjuster for the air control louvers. These high-quality solid metal registers weigh from 3 to 15 pounds each and last a lifetime.

Natural wood registers are becoming increasingly popular in contemporary homes. These are often made of unfinished solid oak for custom staining. Flush styles are designed to fit level with a hardwood floor surface. The wood flanges are slightly oversized to cover and hide the sheet metal opening for the old metal register. For simpler do-it-yourself installation, choose a drop-on design. These are also available for carpeted floors.

After installing new adjustable registers, try adjusting the louvers in the comfortable rooms to force more heated air to the chilly rooms. If this does not help enough, try adjusting the dampers (if your system has them) near the furnace in the branch ducts leading to each room. Wait at least one hour after making an adjustment to check the room temperature. It takes a while to stabilize for a reliable reading.

Installing a small auxiliary fan in the duct leading to the chilly room almost always solves this problem. There are many fan designs to fit any duct size or shape. Most furnace ducts are made of thin sheet metal that can easily be cut with tin snips. As long as you have a big roll of duct tape, anyone can be a sheet metal duct expert. Always wear heavy gloves and protective gear when cutting sheet metal.

These booster fans can be hard-wired directly to the furnace blower so they come on every time it starts. Some also have variable-speed controls so you can fine tune the heated air flow to each room.

If a very warm room (perhaps with a fireplace) has a common wall with a chilly room, install a fan-powered through-the-wall or floor register to help distribute the warm air. These have variable-speed controls and an adjustable width sleeve to fit most common wall or floor thicknesses.

The simplest do-it-yourself option is a thermostatically controlled over-the-register fan. There are several designs that mount over a floor or wall register to draw more heated or cooled air into the problem room. These small quiet fans use only 30-watts of electricity and cost only a couple of cents per day to operate.

Choose one with a built-in thermostat so you can set the room temperature at which it comes on. For year-round use, you will need a model with switchable heating/cooling thermostatic controls. With this option, the fan knows whether to switch on when the room is too cool or too warm depending on the season.

© by James Dulley, mechanical engineer and syndicated columnist. Write for Utility Bills Update No. 699 showing a buyer's guide of 20 manufacturers of auxiliary duct, wall, floor and register fans and new decorative wood, solid brass and plastic adjustable registers, size ranges, colors and options. Include $2 (checks payable to Jim Dulley) and a business-size SASE. Send to Jim Dulley, Illinois Country Living, P.O. Box 3787, Springfield, IL 62708. To rush delivery or read all previous columns - http.//www.dulley.com.

6 ILLINOIS COUNTRY LIVING • FEBRUARY 1997