If one or more air ducts in your attic have a thermal leak you could end up paying more for your monthly electric bill.
Air ducts in attic.
The air ducts for a central hvac systems are typically located above a home in the attic or upper crawl space or underneath a home in the space between the foundation and the floor so you don t see them unless you have cause to replace them.
Because the average humidity level is 10 20 in phoenix.
If they are located in your attic be sure the area is properly insulated and any cracks or holes are sealed.
The really bad news is that with old metal duct systems the only option is replacement of the ducts to stop the rain in the attic.
With hundreds of square feet of ductwork surface area in the attic and a δt of 75 f the air coming out of the vents in your home will be significantly higher than 55 f.
If you live in a consistently humid climate a dehumidifier can help keep the air around your ductwork dry.
Install ductwork so that it is in direct contact with i e laying on the ceiling and or truss lower cords.
Use metal flex or fiber board ducts that are insulated to code.
Not only must you ensure that your air ducts are clean and free of contamination and dust but you also want to make sure they re supporting the efficiency of your heating and air system.
The remaining 2 tons of capacity is at least 1 5x oversized for the actual 1 load.
Air duct replacement by attic guys a ir duct replacement is an integral part of our integrated attic cleaning solution.
When the cool air travels through the ductwork some of it may escape through cracks crevices and other openings.
In turn this forces the air conditioner to work overtime to recoup the lost thermal energy.
An attic can get up to about 130 f in the summer and the conditioned air entering the ducts is about 55 f or so.
According to nrel researchers david roberts and jon winkler moving the ducts from a vented attic to a new location inside the conditioned space will reduce electricity used for cooling by 15 to 20 and will reduce the size of the needed air conditioning equipment by 0 5 to 1 ton.
In more cases than not a 3 ton ac with the ducts in the attic has a ton or so of load that s just from the location of the ducts in the attic and the associated duct gains leakage etc.
However an attic in pensacola florida is likely to have a humidity level closer to 100 and the risk of condensation on ductwork would then go up quite a bit.
If you have central heating and or air conditioning in your home the warm or cool air is delivered to each room through a system of connected ducts and vents.
Throw duct leakage into the mix and the problems are even worse.
Over time the insulation on the exterior of old metal ducts deteriorates letting the hot air come in contact with the very cold metal and this is worst when it comes to condensation.
When hvac ducts are installed in a vented attic in a dry climate bury the ducts in attic insulation to protect them from temperature extremes in the unconditioned attic space.
If ducts are located in a crawlspace underneath your house cover the soil to reduce moisture.
