I am still wayne_tw wrote:
You may still have an air flow issue as you have severely restricted the intake air volume from its original capacity.
The manual for the furnace states that the minimum requirement for cold air return is 65 square inches (80 is optimal) and that ducts should not be located within 2' of cold air return.
The only one of those things I am not following is the 2' to the cold air return from a duct. My cold air return is 192 square inches. And in this orientation it is blowing the air up and away while drawing air from the floor. It's not technically 2' away, but it appears to be working.
The solution from Crossroads was to cut another vent through the wall in to the bunkhouse and duct in there. Let me tell you, the bunkhouse was already a "hot zone" when the furnace was running. Ducting another vent in there would add hot air there and remove even more from the front of the trailer. When I say "hot zone" I mean the trailer would be a chilly 20 degrees, and the bunkhouse would be 30, much too uncomfortable for the kids to stay in there.
The fact of the matter is, I ran the furnace for close to half an hour, raising the temperature from around 20 degrees up to 28 and the furnace did not short cycle at all. The hot air being supplied through my new duct was being blown up and away from the cold air return, and it was drawing air off the floor. Prior to this, the furnace would run *maybe* three minutes before it was short cycling. And once it started short cycling, it would only run about a minute between cycles.
I suppose an alternative design would be to place the cold air return vertically on the left side of that panel, and the supply duct over on the right, which would work out to better than 2' away. I'm not sure how much of a difference that would make overall however.
Also, it may not seem like it, but I do appreciate the criticism.
