Recent searches
Search options
As a Midwesterner, it is absolutely bonkers to me how common it appears to be for HVAC systems to get installed in attics.
Don't do that. Stop doing that! WTF?
That's bad enough, but then you go and run the ducts up there, too?
Y'all.
If you keep the system and the ducts within the space you're trying to heat and cool, you don't have to account for any losses, now, do ya?
Put the air handler in a utility closet. Run ducts /below/ the ceiling. Enclose with soffiting if you must.
The end.
@TechConnectify Can't speak for the general case, but in ours (heat pump, Nova Scotia, ftr):
- We have two closet upstairs, they're in use: one laundry, one storage
- We got an attic unit specifically to run vents to each room upstairs
- The attic unit needs an intake, 20"x20", because it moves a lot of volume; infeasible for a closet
- It also needs to run refrigerant and drainage to the exterior (and then down to the ground); also not closet-compatible
- That's the unit for just the top floor
@delta_vee An important consideration here is that I'm mainly talking about home design. If you're retrofitting stuff, convention flies out the norm.
We would /never/ design a home from scratch where any of the HVAC stuff is in an unconditioned space like an attic. They may go in basements, but those need some heat, too, so it all works out. And we design return ducting in, too.
But, circling back to retrofits, this is a key reason I expect mini-splits to become a lot more common soon
@TechConnectify We've also got ductless for the main floor and basement - even for retrofits, it's not either/or.
Also our attic is insulated; dunno if that's common down there or what...
@delta_vee The attic itself is generally uninsulated here, but there's a crapton of insulation above the ceiling.
So the rest of the house is insulate /from/ the attic.