Return to Center

Eventually I'll get around to doing a full blog post about one significant but under-reported element of the renovation project: the HVAC system. I had the entire heating and cooling operation for the house replaced, which was badly needed. There are still some kinks to be worked out, and one of those was the problem of the master bedroom getting chillingly cold (in summer) and scorchingly hot (in winter) while the rest of the downstairs was maintaining the temperature I'd set the thermostat to.

For instance, back in July, when the house was set at 74° F, here's what the master bathroom was:



And in December, when the rest of the house was set at 69° F, it was a bit warmer in the master suite:



Greg Barnette of Barnette Heating & A/C of Mocksville thought one solution would be to install a return in the master bedroom. So we located a spot between the bathroom door and the dresser, and that's where he cut one in and installed a decorative grate over it:





Of course, I'd love to assure my faithful blog readers that all was well after this return was installed, but check out this reading in the bathroom on Saturday, January 30, when the bedroom and bathroom had been unused/empty for a couple of hours and the rest of the downstairs was 69° F:



Yes. It actually was 92° F in the bathroom.