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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.
This is a test rant for a future video that may or may not happen.
But seriously, I cannot fathom how HVAC stuff in attics (or crawlspaces!) got normalized. Especially in new construction.
You virtually never see that around here (the most common application is old homes with radiators for heat who want to add central air) and for good reason!
@TechConnectify You’re not wrong, you’re just advocating the wrong solution. Conditioned attic spaces with insulation under the roof deck is the best approach for slab on grade new construction with high solar loads and AC demands.
@transcendentape But that's the thing, isn't it? A conditioned attic space becomes a conditioned space.
If you want to spend the money to turn it into one, I ain't gonna stop you. But most people just leave their attic an attic for one reason or another. And if that's the route they've chosen, ducts and the air handler should go somewhere else.
Plus, in many of the homes I'm talking about, the attic ain't tall enough to turn into a useful space anyway.
@TechConnectify The point of making an attic include d into the conditioned space isn’t to reduce the relatively minimal AC losses, it’s to deal with the condensation that results when an attic that reaches 150F and 80% humidity reaches an interior space conditioned to 75F or so. Your solution doesn’t address the fundamental problem we deal with in the South where we have night-time temperatures higher than desirable, high humidity, and no basements.
@transcendentape we absolutely face those same conditions up here in the height of summer. 95° days at 60-70% humidity are pretty common, with beastly nights, too.
Our attics, though, breathe to the outside. The main moisture issues we face are from roof leaks or old bathroom fan installs - we used to allow venting into the attic before we learned how bad that was.
Also, basements are in no way required to keep the ducting out of the attic.
@TechConnectify That’s precisely the problem. For an attic to not be a mold trap, it must have a tremendous amount of airflow. It doesn’t make economic sense to incorporate that into the structure with the building materials we have available today.
@transcendentape I mean, we seem to be managing it just fine.