return flaps

[Jim Baird]

Always fun looking at the older systems, no?

See photo of "pullchain operated" return register, baseboard mounted and really dust-choked.

Wondering why an occupant would want to control return this way. Typical room had return and supply, both baseboard mounted, opposing each other across the width.

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[Marc]

You can influence air flow at either location though I agree the supply is the best end to do that.

I've never seen those before.

Marc

[BADAIR]

many moons ago on a distant planet design criteria was minimal

therefore many owners "wanted to control" the amount of returned/conditioned air taken/delivered to each room...deception rules

now with all of the manual rs, j, s, d , t, b, zr, ansi/acaa many sys are on auto-snafu & the levered grills deceive no better

[Rob Amaral]

Exact same pull-chain in my house growing up... circa 1950...

[Jim Baird]

This house was built 1950. Outside is a small UST, making me think the air distribution system once served an oil furnace.

[John Kogel]

That grill was probably designed to go on the heating duct, but wound up where it is for unknown reasons.

We have seen some oddball heating systems, eh?

I recall a house with no ducts, just grills open to the crawlspace, and an electric furnace blasting heat straight down.

As I recall, the realtor blackballed me for questioning the design efficiency. [8D]

[Jim Baird]

Same house had a finished attic level served by a split system whose fan/coil unit was completely walled off, no service access.

[ghentjr]

That grill was probably designed to go on the heating duct, but wound up where it is for unknown reasons.

We have seen some oddball heating systems, eh?

I recall a house with no ducts, just grills open to the crawlspace, and an electric furnace blasting heat straight down.

As I recall, the realtor blackballed me for questioning the design efficiency. [8D]

I may be wrong (at my age it is not unusual, just ask my wife) but I think a bunch of houses like that were built for military housing and one of these "crawlspace plenums" killed some folks when an exterminator treated the crawl for termites. But not sure about the placement of the furnace.

[Steven Hockstein]

I have seen some people install high-low returns. There are returns at the ceiling that are opened for the summer central air conditioning season and low returns that are closed. They are reversed during the heating season.

The logic seems reasonable. Never studied the results.