Is Your Ductwork Working?
The ductwork in your home and in most commercial buildings are invisible. Because of this you don’t think about it nor do you ask yourself, is your ductwork working?
Understanding and configuring the ductwork in your home or office is one of those “invisible” tasks that the geothermal professionals from Symbiont Service Corp in Englewood, Florida do pay close attention to.
The reason ductwork needs to be thought about is that in addition to efficient geothermal cooling and heating for your home or office, you need to consider the components that carry that heated or cooled air throughout. The ductwork in the home or office plays a crucial part in the efficient distribution of the air. If the ductwork hasn’t been designed properly or if it’s improperly installed, sealed or clogged you can lose more than 20% of the heated and cooled air (that you’re paying for!) because the ductwork hadn’t been properly designed.
When we work with our customers on the installation of a geothermal heating and/or cooling system, we will inspect and evaluate the existing ductwork and let you know whether it’s serving the configuration of the house or office or if it needs to be reworked and re-configured.
Is Your Ductwork Working?
What goes into the evaluation and determination of the efficiency of the ductwork? Here are a few of the items we will evaluate:
- Whether the radial and trunk and branch configuration of the ductwork in a residential setting are properly configured to properly serve the house. This system has smaller ducts that “branch” off from the “trunk” and those all reach out from the furnace.
- Whether the ductwork design is optimal it needs to take into consideration the floorplan of the house — the number of floors the heating and cooling system is being required to reach and whether there are any “kinks” or obstructions in the ducts.
- Our geothermal experts will also check that the sealing of the ductwork is thorough. Any ductwork — whether in a residential or commercial setting — needs to be properly sealed. The sealing can be done through the use of metal tape or mastic. There are bound to be areas on the building that are not easily accessible and that’s why you need to expertise of a professional to assure every area is properly sealed. An improperly sealed piece of ductwork means the loss of heated and cooled air.
- Even the best-laid and best-sealed ductwork will still experience slight leakage of air. If you have ducts that are running through an area of the house that are not being heated or cooled, those areas need to be properly insulated to assure the heated and cooled air remains at the necessary levels as it moves throughout the building.
- If you’re having a remodel of your home done, be aware that sometimes ducts have been run through the existing cavities in the walls — that isn’t a bad thing, but you need to be assured that that ductwork has been installed so that contaminants are being pulled in and circulated through the home because of improper layout or sealing.
- Air returns and registers need to be installed properly in order to assure the successful distribution of the heated and cooled air. If there are rooms in the house or building that don’t have air returns, we will let you know about the precautions that need to be taken to assure adequate air circulation even if the room is not in use and the doors are closed. You will be asked to consider connecting the room with a jumper duct or having the doors undercut.
If you’re having a new home or commercial building constructed or if you’re having your current home or building remodeled, call on one of our geothermal professionals to perform an evaluation of your existing duct system. We can answer your questions and make ductwork recommendations to help ensure you’re getting the most efficient system possible.
We educate our customers about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems). For information about ductwork and other HVAC topics, download our free Home Comfort Resource guide.
Symbiont Service Corp. serves Englewood, Florida and the surrounding areas. Visit our website to see our special offers and get started today!
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