Routing New Ductwork in 1913 West Bend Home

The owners of this older home needed to replace their aging gas furnace and central air conditioning. They hoped for more even heating and cooling for their second storey. There were only two registers on the entire top floor, and no returns. The bedrooms were cold in the winter, hot and stuffy in the summer.

To make room for the ducting to the second floor, they removed their chimney down to the attic floor. Their water heater is vented through the basement wall, so the chimney was no longer used.(See the blue arrow, photo, right.) Flexible ducting was run to the attic, and new registers were placed in each room's ceiling. These subtle 6" round registers can be adjusted and fully closed. Now both floors are comfortable, year round.

Steve helped them save hundreds of dollars by suggesting they reuse their existing air filter system, see tan box in left photo.

Keep the charm, add energy efficiency and comfort

Like many older homes, the original ducting was on the interior walls. To preserve the charming registers (and avoid time comsuming plaster and woodwork repairs) all existing registers were converted to return air. See photo, left. The result is even heating and cooling, with no hotspots or drafts.

New ducts were run properly to exterior walls. Inexpensive maple register covers were purchased online and match the refinished maple floors perfectly. See photo, right.

"We chose Coutts Heating because Steve really knows his stuff. He answered our questions patiently and thoroughly, showed up on time, and took his time to do the job right. He takes pride in his work and treated our home as if it was his own. We're much more comfortable, and we're saving energy too."

Mark and Jo, West Bend 2009