Heat Pump Return

[John Evans]

1989 Trane heat pump air handler wall mounted in a small utility closet 1st floor of a slab on grade townhome. Unit is mounted about 4' off the floor with no return plenum. The bottom of the cabinet is open, closet acting as the plenum? 2nd floor wall cavity return with no draw. HVAC guru's, what do you think?

[David A. Andersen]

Can't do two floors with one unit on a good day (even when you have a well designed return duct)!

How do you get hot air from 2nd floor down? Can't

Fire code violation?

[John Evans]

Fire code violation due to the open wall? How is the return air flow supposed to work on the first floor when the "return" is located behind small louvered doors? Ridiculous design, second floor air flow is hopeless. I don't think Trane would endorse this installation.

[Joe Funderburk, CMI]

Disregarding the lack of a functional return on the 2nd level, it sounds a lot like how a mobile home is designed. System in a closet, serving as the plenum. The filters directly over the A coil never work well.

[rsummers]

It was probably OK with building dept to use building cavity's when system was original installed as long as the openings were large enough to allow a sufficient flow of air back in unit & there are no issues with Fire code violations or issues like drawing in air from unconditioned spaces. In the past this was not uncommon you could never get away with it now. They sure spent a lot of time on the filter rack must have been a real money maker for the contractor Trane would not be proud.