Not really home automation persay, but I figured since many people here have probably dealt with having to track things down like this before, it's worth asking.
I *think* my bedroom has an HVAC booster fan hidden somewhere between the furnace and the bedroom. I used to be able to hear a fan at night when the furnace was on, and my room was always nice and toasty. Then one night I noticed I could no longer hear the fan, and it was cold. The air blowing from the vents was much less volume than before. Shortly after I noticed this, I started hearing the fan noise again, but this time with a lot of vibration. When the noisy fan sound was going, tons of air was coming out of the vents.
Now, it's been several months since I heard the fan noise, and my bedroom is a good 10 degrees colder than the rest of the house. Any idea how to track this down without tearing apart everything? The basement is unfinished, and it's not down there. So the only place it could be is at the top of the wall in the garage where the duct goes up to the bedroom, or above the ceiling in the garage (the bedroom is over the garage).
I cut a couple of small holes in the ceiling, but it's a huge mess because it's packed full of blown insulation. I tried an inspection camera, but I can't see anything because of all of the insulation.
The only two options that I can come up with are:
1. Continue cutting holes in the ceiling. It's not making noise anymore, so I can't pin it down that way.
2. Get one of those miniature remote controlled tanks with the UHF video camera that they used to sell on ThinkGeek.com and drive it down one of the vents in the room with a string attached to pull it out if it gets stuck. I can't find them anymore though, ThinkGeek stopped selling them.
Any other brilliant ideas? I called the company that did the HVAC in this house, and they said it must have been added later because they didn't put one in. Then they told me that they were still owed $18k on the system (builder went bankrupt), so I don't think I should talk to them anymore.
I *think* my bedroom has an HVAC booster fan hidden somewhere between the furnace and the bedroom. I used to be able to hear a fan at night when the furnace was on, and my room was always nice and toasty. Then one night I noticed I could no longer hear the fan, and it was cold. The air blowing from the vents was much less volume than before. Shortly after I noticed this, I started hearing the fan noise again, but this time with a lot of vibration. When the noisy fan sound was going, tons of air was coming out of the vents.
Now, it's been several months since I heard the fan noise, and my bedroom is a good 10 degrees colder than the rest of the house. Any idea how to track this down without tearing apart everything? The basement is unfinished, and it's not down there. So the only place it could be is at the top of the wall in the garage where the duct goes up to the bedroom, or above the ceiling in the garage (the bedroom is over the garage).
I cut a couple of small holes in the ceiling, but it's a huge mess because it's packed full of blown insulation. I tried an inspection camera, but I can't see anything because of all of the insulation.
The only two options that I can come up with are:
1. Continue cutting holes in the ceiling. It's not making noise anymore, so I can't pin it down that way.
2. Get one of those miniature remote controlled tanks with the UHF video camera that they used to sell on ThinkGeek.com and drive it down one of the vents in the room with a string attached to pull it out if it gets stuck. I can't find them anymore though, ThinkGeek stopped selling them.
Any other brilliant ideas? I called the company that did the HVAC in this house, and they said it must have been added later because they didn't put one in. Then they told me that they were still owed $18k on the system (builder went bankrupt), so I don't think I should talk to them anymore.