Ductwork Crawl Space Vs Attic

Installing ductwork in the crawl space beneath a home limits movement and poses a lighting challenge.

Ductwork crawl space vs attic.

It s easy to see your point about eliminating ductwork from the attic. In the winter a crawl space can be significantly colder than the living spaces of your home. I vote for the attic. Knowing the disadvantages of attic install and the crawl space install.

Insulate and air seal the floor with open cell foam put ductwork and mechanicals in the attic install a radiant barrier and mastic seal the ducts. The accessibility of a home s ductwork is a key factor in estimating the cost to replace it. Ductwork can eat into living space so innovative space saving features like squeeze elbows are in demand. Ceiling diffusers can help route vents to alternative locations avoiding lengths of ductwork.

The 2nd duct is the return duct that attaches to the return air vents and draws the stale air out of the house through the filter and conditions it again to return to the house as conditioned air through the supply duct system. If the ducts are in an unconditioned attic you can put spray foam insulation on the roof deck. A two room addition on the 1st floor has limited attic space and a 4 crawl space. As don peek says in the comments below it may be more cost effective in existing homes to seal and insulate the ducts as well as you can.

The majority of ducts are installed in unconditioned attic spaces and crawl spaces where they are out of sight. A basement is below and an attic is above the main part of the house. If you have ductwork in your crawl space the temperature of the duct will be the same as the temperature of the crawl space. With new construction i would look for a way to have them in conditioned space.

Seal supply boxes with mastic. When beau called me we discussed the job and i said to him son you ve got to give this homeowner hope. If there were a way to eliminate the possibility of critters i would prefer the cooler location for ducts. In a crawlspace you have to worry about critters and duct losses.

The hot air leaves your furnace at the desired temperature. In the attic you have worry about heat gain and duct losses. Finding space for ductwork in the. However i have two questions if i want to centrally air condition my entire house.

If the ducts are in an unconditioned crawl space you can encapsulate. Strap ducts out of insulation with 3 ductstraps per specifications.