--71.104.xx.x

Cut 6x10 grille openings into each door so there will be air flow - hard to get treated air in when the other air won't come out. --76.188.xxx.xx

I agree with Vee. Cut holes near bottom and top, not just bottem. Air circulation is necessary. --23.121.xx.xxx

I haven't tested it, but I think with the doors open, the rooms would still be cold. There's hardly any air coming out of the registers in the bedrooms. --71.104.xx.x

The heating guy told me that once the furnace was sized properly, the air flow to the four lower floor bedrooms would improve. It didn't happen though. --71.104.xx.x

I know closing doors affect temp but not flow. Downstairs registers in winter need to be wide open-- upstairs partially closed. Since heat rises need more hot air to the lower unit and will naturally drift up. --99.103.xxx.xxx

https://www.houselogic.com/organize-maintain/home-maintenance-tips/booster-fans/ --174.21.xxx.xxx

I think I will get on-line and write some bad reviews for the company and see if that spurs them into action. I've done that before and gotten some results. I was wondering if filing in small claims would be more effective. --71.104.xx.x

I have a two br first floor with gas hot air that has cold bedrooms. The heater is in the basement and heat does rise but the two brs face north and there is only one duct. Do you have more than one duct coming in? Are they north facing rooms? I added a little baseboard heat in each room to help with the problems of north facing rooms and hot air heat. I think the vent fans someone suggested could be your answer also. --73.178.xxx.xx

Then if the finished job doesn't live up to the details of the contract, I give the contractor 1 chance to remedy the issues. Then I contact the Performance Bonding Company and request either my MONEY BACK or the JOB BE DONE RIGHT as per the Specification in the contract. Within a reasonable time frame if the job isn't corrected, I contact the Main Headquarters of the Insurance Carrier, a billion dollar concern, and make a demand on my full refund. Then I contact the insurance commissioner and have the contractors license pulled and the insurance company bared from doing business in the state. A guarantee bond can not be ignored. Action has to be taken. --47.156.xx.xx

Often a heating is installed without the first consideration why a heating is required in the first place. In the past many buildings were poorly insulated where there was a considerable heat loss or heat gain in the summer. If a house had R70 in the ceiling and R50 in the walls there would be no need for a heating system. If own a thermal camera then can scan the walls to check the difference in temperature. In the house one bedroom is poorly insulated where the temperature is always lower then rest of house. When it was -20 outside the wall was 0 degrees Celsius which is freezing. Since removing all the fiberglass insulation in the wall then installing insulation foam the one wall has less of heat loss where going to do the other wall as well. Upgrading the insulation in the cooler rooms along with installing new windows will balance the system out. Often many buildings the north side is cooler as there is no thermal gain on sunny days. Fiberglass is the worst insulation out there where spray foam has the least heat transfer. Heating a poorly insulated building once the furnace shuts down the rooms already start to feel cold again. Also check out videos on You Tube about upgrading insulation. --147.194.xxx.xx

Thanks - Bill --71.104.xx.x

Sounds like you may need to get gates installed on each line coming off the main trunk and have them set so that the load is balanced. That means equal airflow would be coming out of each register. --166.137.xxx.xx

Google “balancing HVAC registers” --70.178.x.xx

Five years since the system was installed? You would have had more leverage to get them to fix it within the first few months after the install, but now 5 years later they probably are not going to want to do anything more. --174.21.xxx.xxx

To clarify, 5 years ago I had a fire and got a new heating system installed. It didn’t work well and about 8 months ago I got a new furnace and two zone heat/AC system installed. That hasn’t worked well either. --71.104.xx.x

Razorback, I'm pretty sure the problem is insufficient duct work from the furnace to the rooms below. From the main trunk to the floor below, there are 3 elbows in a row. The system installed 5 years ago was shutting down before the set point was reached (short cycling) because there wasn't enough air flow over the burner section and the system would shut down because it got too hot. I was assured once the new system was installed, it would operate well, but it is still short cycling when only a single zone is running, and the airflow coming out of the registers on the floor below is weak. Thanks! --71.104.xx.x

Cutting vents into bedroom doors is ridiculous, at most, an air gap of an inch at the bottom will allow air to flow. However, the company that you paid did not say you would have to do even that, so do not do it yet. --69.244.xx.xx

After reading more into this it seems your return is not large enough or large enough from the longer distance rooms, can you verify the long distance runs are opening and closing? Short cycling is mostly caused by the return air shortage and the heat can not get out so the safety turns off the flames while the fan continues to send out treated air, I assumes you have 2 temp controls so lowering the upper room temps would close those dampers then forcing all the treated air down and this should make a significant increase in flow. I am thinking there is a wire that has broken from vibrations or simply never tight and fell off to get the flow to the lower rooms. --76.188.xxx.xx

you don't even know if your duct trunk line has a problem as you keep addressing the source heat. --73.114.xx.xx

I would explain to the company that it is recommended that bedroom doors be kept closed when sleeping so the heat load calculations need to be redone and the system fixed accordingly. Maybe a heat return duct needs to be put in all the rooms. --64.222.xxx.xx

--71.104.xx.x

I get heat complaints from college kids because the bedrooms don’t heat up as fast as the rest of the house. Same scenario- they keep the doors closed all the time. Families who have lived at the SAME property do not have that problem because they leave the doors open. Heating tech told them to use common sense . If they come in the house and crank up the thermostat in the open floor plan main living area it gets up to temp pretty quickly and then shuts off like it’s supposed to. The closed up bedrooms don’t get a chance to heat up and they don’t have thermostats in them to call for more heat. If they start at a moderate temperature and let it rise the house will heat evenly. If they left it at a decent temp instead of turning it down every time they leave it would be helpful too. Electric baseboard compensates for the area farthest from the heating zone. --71.10.xxx.xxx

I have larger windows in one of the two colder room. One is a huge bay window with double panes but that is a lot of window. Drapes only work a bit since the air drops off the colder window onto the floor. Just one short run of baseboard heat should fix each room. Just a couple feet with a thermostat on/off switch. It's just New Jersey. --73.178.xxx.xx

RentsDue, the cold bedrooms are a steady-state condition in the cold weather. The rooms are not well insulated and there is not much hot air coming out of the registers. --71.104.xx.x

Any fire marshall will tell you that bedroom doors should be closed at night to keep any fire from spreading faster, and keep the smoke out. Go after them, their argument is ridiculous. --71.175.xxx.xxx

Thanks Wilma, your point is well taken about keeping the doors shut for fire safety. --71.104.xx.x

In the house slowly insulating by spray foam where breaking out a wall then spray foaming wall. Most building supply stores sell DIY spray foam kits. Focusing on the worst walls then over time will be reduce the heat loss to a lower level. You Tube has many helpful videos on spray foam kits. In the house there is 3 1/4" space which leaves out many other types of insulating to maximize insulation. Here most new houses use 6" studs which leaves more room for insulation. Using a thermal camera the difference can be seen along with room is lot warmer. Houses built in eighties had very low levels of insulation as the solution was to install a larger furnace to cover the heat loss. So in the end a larger furnace does not work as the heat and cool cycle once the furnace shuts off. Presently have high efficiency 50,000 furnace. Changed out a dishwasher where found the wall very cool which means that wall will be next for spray foam. --147.194.xxx.xx

Thanks everyone for taking the time to write. I really appreciate it. Bill --71.104.xx.x

About baseboard heat: Yes generally more expen$ive to run but can be an easy solution for where "auxilliary" heat is sporadically needed. Wall mounted thermostats are available for baseboard heaters but are beefier (they have to control 120VAC or 240VAC instead of 24V current) and more spendy. Plus you have to run the high voltage wiring from the heater to the tstat, usually thru the floor and wall because the tsat should be on a wall not directly near the baseboard heater. --174.21.xxx.xxx

Thanks again CX - Bill --71.104.xx.x

They made it right. --204.210.xxx.xxx

For results of the company coming out to troubleshoot, call the company and speak to the owner. If you can't get him on the phone, e-mail. In other words, go WAY above the technician's head. Ask for a supervisor and a head technician to come out and evaluate....not the salesman, not the bottom tier installer. --72.70.xxx.xxx

--71.104.xx.x

Bill Wilso,I’m here in Southern Connecticut and to give you a solution to your problem in Jersey is well nigh impossible If you were in Northern California , keeping the heat to a tolerable level might be a challenge.I wouldn’t sue the company Better hold on to your cash and next Spring pay a couple of strong of the back and weak of the mind to move your furnace own to the basement area.................heat rises more easily than the other way. ..........Charlie.......zzz...........,,,,,,,, ........... --32.214.xxx.xx

Well, I called the heating company and i'm going to meet the service manager, tomorrow to show him the problems. We'll see.... --71.104.xx.x

Maybe I'll put some electric baseboards in the cold rooms. --71.104.xx.x