Hi guys, Less than one year old Lennox natural gas furnace with 3 zone controller. What I have zone 1--800 sq. foot cottage on a lake, southern michigan, not insulated well. Low temps, heavy winds , lake effect snow. Zone 2 --upstairs new addition approx 1600 sq feet Zone 3-- downstairs new addition approx 1600 sq feet. New additions are new construction 2X6 walls , insulated to the max....
Problem is with zoning. If we turn up zone 1 far enough to make it warm, then zones 2 and 3 are exceptionally hot. With the thermostats set at 72 in those zones the real temp can be 78, while its still chilly in the "old" part of the cottage. Yes, I know the proper way to fix it is to add more insulation to the old part. Not really on option in the middle of winter.
When the installers put it in, they explained the furnace is too big for the 800 sq foot cottage and some of the heat has to be "bled off" into the other zones or the heat exchanger gets too hot and could crack. I am aware that this is true. So , when they set it up, zones 2 and 3 dampers don't close all the way allowing some of the heat to "bleed" into those zones, whenever zone 1 runs. Leaving zone 1 chillier than it should be and zones 2 and 3-- 78 while the thermostat is set to 72. So to fix this I could 1--Start tearing out walls and re-insulate zone 1 or option 2 --reset the dampers to where they don't bleed off as much heat and hope the heat exchanger doesn't melt, or perhaps you guys have some ideas?
Problem is with zoning. If we turn up zone 1 far enough to make it warm, then zones 2 and 3 are exceptionally hot. With the thermostats set at 72 in those zones the real temp can be 78, while its still chilly in the "old" part of the cottage. Yes, I know the proper way to fix it is to add more insulation to the old part. Not really on option in the middle of winter.
When the installers put it in, they explained the furnace is too big for the 800 sq foot cottage and some of the heat has to be "bled off" into the other zones or the heat exchanger gets too hot and could crack. I am aware that this is true. So , when they set it up, zones 2 and 3 dampers don't close all the way allowing some of the heat to "bleed" into those zones, whenever zone 1 runs. Leaving zone 1 chillier than it should be and zones 2 and 3-- 78 while the thermostat is set to 72. So to fix this I could 1--Start tearing out walls and re-insulate zone 1 or option 2 --reset the dampers to where they don't bleed off as much heat and hope the heat exchanger doesn't melt, or perhaps you guys have some ideas?