most fan mfg's say-a clockwise direction in cooler weather to move stagnant hot air off the the ceiling area, counter clockwise in the summer resulting in a downward airflow.now that 1.5 hr to climb from 62 to 69?what is the outside ambient temp?if it ain't zero degrees ,that rate seems to be long getting back up to temp.in my area-i use a design of maintaining 70 degrees in a house when it's zero outside,hence on a say 25-45 degrees day -the heating device is oversized and should have no problem heating a house up nicely.this is why at minimum i recommend a 2 stage furnace, except on the coldest days or when the thermostat is coming out of setback mode, it will be on low fire.now on the coldest days or say, when your stat is set to got to 69 from 62, it will go full fire to get the house back up to temp.i personally have two of them in my home and install alot of them -american standard accu- lean electronic air cleaners,the benefit of these or even a air filter , is it's only cleaning air when air is moving,i program my thermostats not to run in an on position, but a "circulatory" mode -meaning it will cycle the blower on low speed 30% of the time in a non- call for heating or cooling, to get the benefit of the air being cleaned,now i only run this in the summer not the winter,in the summer ,a ir being circulated will help alleviate hot spots[same effect as ceiling fans].now in the summer,i don't recommend this as it tends to cause a chill feeling.i recommend leving furnace blower in the auto setting.i know i rambled in this last part , but hopefully you get the relationship to keeping ceiling fans off in the winter.
fyi to all-on winter check-ups, on natural gas winter check-ups on boilers and furnaces-make sure it's cold outside and there is a draw on the gas in the neighborhood so when the gas pressure is checked by a tech, it's accurate.

now on oil and gas fired furnaces,make sure the temp rise is in mfg's specs and the temp in supply duct work at 2' past the first 90 is ~10 degrees warmer than the return temp, too many guys never adjust the delay off time in heating mode, leaving too much heat in your ductwork that you paid for and not in your living space, this also will preserve and elongate the life of your heat exchanger.phil

 

LOL. my credentials are, im nate certified, epa certified, have done installs for 6 yrs, and service for 3yrs for a perty big company, if you load a well insulated home, that would be a real close guess. of course the windows direction of the home, blahblah blah alll take effect. thats close though

 

thats when you say arzell, zoning....

 

close enough, that isn't good enough for me or my customers,i'm not like the hacks out there that get in a low ball bidding war installing house brand equipment and flex duct .in todays age of fossil fuel costs and electricity costs, gone are the days of oversizing equipment and bigger is better theory.in reality you get what you pay for...

 

Funny thing about that is they would rather spend 2200.00 (or whatever you want to charge them) on upgraded trim or bath fixtures or what not than spend the money on zoning (most of them anyways).

 

Thanks for the help fellas, I am in the process of remodeling this house. I bought it in june, it was built in 1945 and then had a little work done in the late 70's. When the house was bought there was no insulation and the ex owners said it was taking 200gallons of propane a week to heat the house and they couldn't afford that so they sold it. I filled the walls with cellulose and put 20" in the attic, it hasn't gotten real cold yet hear but the heater rarely kicks on and when it does it only takes a few minutes before it back up to temp and shuts off. I guess when I get ready to make the change I will have them come run test and see exactly what I need. I wish one of you guys were closer, because its would be nice to find someone that I feal I can trust to do it.

 

anytime bud,my theory is find out what the customer wants, show them what they actually need,fully educate them on what they are getting,what it will cost, and what they are paying for their return,i give them all the necessary info to make a wise ,unpressured decision.i usually spend 2-2 1/2 hrs on a proposal and estimate with a customer, i guess thats why the fellow contractors don't like me around here-i don't rip people off and i don't hide info...

 

with that short run time-my money is on fact it is oversized!

 

I've seen the stick thermometers that HVAC techs use - I'll have to pick one up and take readings. Can I buy a gauge at a home improvement store to check the cfm, or is that an expensive item only found at HVAC supply places?

 

a velomometer is used to take cfm readings,purchased through hvac supply housees.

 

Not very close....I'm about 80 miles further south

Honestly, I don't know. I've never been in the attic. I'll have to go up there this weekend and take a look. I have an open foyer, and the thought of falling through the ceiling and going 19 feet down to the first floor has kept me out of the attic.

It's only 5 years old.

Neither, but I won't bash them. It's a local company here in Southern MD. I might just ask them to come look at it and get advice - without mentioning that they did the install. Then if they start badmouthing the original installer I'll let them know that it was them.

I looked into the booster fans and wondered just that - if they would make the air colder.

Thanks for your help!

 

let me rephrase,, i am far from a hack. i am a perfectionist with my work,m i am by the book and good at it, with that being said i have sized enough systems and designed them that i can be really darn close just by walking through. when i do replace equipment i do the load calc sheet, on the computer i dont feel like typing a book, so you should kno what i mean, it isnt rocket science. i am not cheap, when i do get out on my own my prices will be towards the high end, no lo ball bullsht. i am working on my contractors license... i would still bet a nickel u go load that house mentioned above and that will be what it needs, of course no one has seen it

 

no need to measure cfm, its calculated on heat rise.. just call a company to check it. there is alot more than heat rise to look for, like proper combustion, efficiency, amp draws, micro amps, so on so forth, using a bachrach machine, co2 levels, co levels

 

I can run my heat cheaper than anyone else

 

anemometer....would be the proper tool..imho