Good ductwork design is vital if you want your home’s cooling and heating systems to run efficiently. When ducts are installed properly, not only will your home stay cooler or warmer, but it will require less energy. Renovating or building a new home is the perfect time to make sure good ductwork design is a part of the system.
There are several aspects that can help make the ductwork design in a house as efficient as possible. The first is ensuring that ducts are properly sealed, so heated or cooled air can’t leak out before it reaches its destination. Once the ducts are sealed, they should also be insulated to prevent conditioned air from escaping.
Another way to help prevent temperature loss is to have ducts installed in a conditioned space, such as dropped ceilings or a raised floor. This can make the system more efficient as long as the space is specially designed for the ducts.
The ducts should also be designed in a way that ensures that air is able to properly flow from the HVAC system, through the ducts, into the house, and back toward the heater or air conditioner through the return registers. This requires ductwork with either a multiple room return system for the air, where return ducts are connected to each conditioned room, or with a central return system, where there’s a main return duct connected to a central area, and jumper ducts and transfer grilles allow air to flow from the conditioned rooms into the central area.
The way ducts are networked throughout the house must also be based on good ductwork design methods. The trunk-and-branch, radial, spider and perimeter configurations are all fairly efficient, but the radial and trunk-and-branch options work best when the ducts have been built into conditioned areas.
If you’d like more expert advice and help on this and other home comfort issues, please contact Rheem Pro Partner. We’ve been serving Colorado since 1992!
Image via Shutterstock.com