Ductwork · Seminole, FL
Ductwork
Duct is the half of the system nobody looks at. Equipment can be sized right, fitted right and charged right, and a back bedroom will still sit four degrees warm because the return is too small or the run leaks into a hot attic.
How a duct fault gets found
- 01Read the static pressure
A high reading means the system is fighting the duct, which new equipment will not fix.
- 02Find where the air goes missing
Leaks at the plenum, the boots and every joint finished with tape instead of mastic.
- 03Count the returns
Most uncomfortable houses are short of return air, not supply.
- 04Seal, resize or replace
Mastic on the joints, new trunk where it was undersized, a second return where the house needs one.
- 05Read it again
Static pressure and airflow measured again, so you can see the money worked.
Questions about ductwork
Why is one room always warmer?
Usually return air, or a run too long and too leaky to deliver. Rarely the thermostat, and never fixed by replacing the equipment it is connected to.
Is duct cleaning the same as duct sealing?
No. Cleaning takes out what is inside the duct. Sealing stops conditioned air leaving it. Only one of the two ever shows up on a power bill.
Can duct be fixed without replacing the system?
Often, and it is usually the cheaper half of the problem. Where duct is the fault, new equipment bolted onto it inherits the fault.
The size first. The price after it.
Forty minutes in the house, measured room by room, and the size on paper before anyone talks about equipment.