Missing Return Vents in Home for Heating and AC

Our Answer

Thanks for listening to the show, glad you’re enjoying it! It sounds like your heating system is very uncomfortable because there are no return vents installed. This is a real issue because the way a forced-air heating system works is that the air is heated or cooled at the furnace or air conditioner, and then supplied to the rooms. But, that same air must be returned to be heated and cooled over and over again for that to be efficient. If no return duct was ever installed, I imagine you’re very uncomfortable in this place. (And probably wasting a lot of energy, too!)

There are a couple of ways to fix this, one of which is to install returns directly to the room itself. This is the most common, but also the most expensive and hardest to do as a retrofit. A better way is to install one large central return near the upstairs bedrooms and then undercut each bedroom door so the air has a way to get out. By undercut, I mean you would actually physically cut the bottom of the door so there’s an inch to an inch-and-a-half of space when the door is closed. This way, air will be drawn from under the door back into the heating system to be reconditioned, then sent back to the rooms. Those are really the only two options that come to mind. I would suggest finding a good-quality heating and cooling contractor to visit the home and give you an additional opinion. The best way to do that is by searching on HomeAdvisor.com!