Efficient Ductwork Design Reduces Energy Losses

If not properly designed and installed, your ductwork could undermine the efficiency of your HVAC system. There are a number of ways to ensure your ductwork design promotes maximum system efficiency in your Florida home:

• Size the duct system appropriately to ensure the air handler can run within its specifications.
• Minimize bends and turns. These lead to low airflow rates, which make your heating and cooling equipment run less efficiently.
• Make sure ducts are the right size for your home. Undersized ducts make your HVAC equipment work harder and lead to high air velocities, which can be noisy. Oversized ducts will struggle to distribute air properly throughout your home.
• Run ductwork through conditioned spaces when possible. This will keep any losses that occur within the insulated and heated and cooled interior of the house, so they aren’t actually losses. Even insulated ducts will have some losses if run through unconditioned areas. Try to minimize ducts running through unconditioned areas and keep them as short as possible.
• Balance the supply and return flow so the house is maintained at a neutral pressure. Pressurized houses will tend to loose conditioned air to the outside. If there is not a return duct in every room, then door or wall grilles and jumper ducts should be used to ensure air can easily flow to the central return grilles even when doors are closed.
• Ductwork needs to be properly sized in each room to deliver the appropriate amount if air based on the room’s heating and cooling needs. Some things that will determine this are the room’s size and number of windows.

Even well-thought-out ductwork will be inefficient if not properly installed. Any ducts that run through unconditioned spaces will need to be well insulated. This includes ducts installed in exterior walls. Ductwork also needs to be well-sealed. It is best to avoid traditional duct tape and use mastic sealant or metal tape instead. Mastic is a gooey, effective sealant. It can seal up to 1/8-inch gaps if fiberglass mesh is used.

For more information on ductwork design or any other HVAC-related issues, please contact us at NisAir Air Conditioning & Heating. We provide reliable HVAC services to Palm Beach, Indian River and Martin counties.