Duct Work

Duct work is the most important part of your central heating and air conditioning system. It is also the easiest part of the system to screw up when installing it.  It must me designed for both the equipment it is connected to and the space that it conditions.  It should be sealed so that the air you pay to condition goes into your home and not the attic or crawl space. It needs to be insulated correctly, code says r-6 in a crawl space and r-8 in attics. 

The most common problems I see are undersized duct work, un-sealed duct work  and un-insulated duct work.  When duct work is not insulated correctly it will sweat when in air conditioning mode and I have seen it rust out in 5 years and if flex duct is hanging from a metal boot that is not insulated properly, condensation will fill the flex duct with water until it is heavy enough and the weight of the water will pull the duct work appart.  If it is not sealed correctly then you are paying to heat and cool the outside.  You can have a 5 ton air conditioner installed but if the duct work is sized for a 2 ton ( which I see contractors doing all the time) your sysyem will only be 2 ton.  Undersizing duct work is the easiest way to beat someone else on their bid. Dont ever take the cheapest bid on duct work installation.  Lots of people ask what is the best equipment to install?  Well, the most important part of any new install is who is installing it.