venting

We are rebuilding our house and want our hot air and ac ductwork to run to the to the ceilings. We want this because we have 2 dogs, a cat, and children and fear that fur and anything our kids drop in will cause problems with the system. not to mention that the placement of furniture may be hindered by floor vents. our contractor told us that it isn't efficient to do this. since it is a fire claim, i want to be sure that we are being guided correctly. he said it would cost about $900 more to run it to the attic. we want to know if it matters where the vents are located and if it would really cost close to a grand to do it.

Reply to
djmurdzek
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Of course it matters. Get a heating and air contractor to spec the ducts, not some general contractor that is going to do what is in his best interests.

Reply to
What a maroon

Most of the time, the air conditioning is installed to fit the building rather than the other way around.

A grand is not a considerable amount of money when you consider the complete job cost.

Dog and cat fur will find its way into the system no matter where the return is, although, more so if the return is low rather than high. Just incorporate using high efficiency pleated air filters into the system and change them often.

Speaking to a "knowledgeable" HVAC contractor might be in your "best" interest to get quality answers to your questions.

Reply to
Zyp

FWIW, a grand for ductwork is really really cheap... they must be using flex and just throwing in what they can get their hands on instead of doing it right.

To have it done correctly in hard pipe (insulated tin) as per the Manual D ductwork calculations, your prolly going to be looking at between $250 - $300 per drop, and $25 - $40 per linear foot of trunk line. On the average in my area, for a 3 ton system, your gonna be looking at roughly 3 grand for a 3 ton system duct job.

Reply to
Noon-Air

In general it makes little difference on a system with a blower - the air in the room gets mixed with the air from the vents pretty quick. In a residential application, with a mix of small and large rooms and wildly varied heat and cool loads all on one system, a problem can develop where the air out of the vents is at such low velocity it doesn't mix well. The diffusers(aka grills or vents) should be sized small enough to avoid this. This problem tends to have a more pronounced effect on comfort with ceiling returns and supplies, especially in cooling mode. BTW - the preferred return location is at the ceiling for cooling, at the floor for heating, with the opposite for the supplies - so nearly every system out there is "wrong" for either heating or cooling.

Reply to
Roger

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