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Duct losses

 
W here is the hottest place in your home? The attic. Where is the coldest place in your home? The attic. What if all of your ductwork is located in the attic?  The losses are staggering.  Not just air leaks, the real losses are heat moving into and out of the ducts.  Ducts located in cold crawlspaces or cold basements can reap huge benefits from being wrapped.
Consider this:  Homes built within the last twenty years have 3.5" to 5.5" of insulation (R11 or R19), in the exterior walls, and 10" to 13" (R30 or R38), inches in the attic.  How much is around your duct system?   One inch.  This is all that protects your costly investment of conditioning your living space and keeping you comfortable.  With this economy, can you really afford to overlook this simple, cost effective, do it yourself project?

We have found flex duct systems increasing the temperature of delivered cooled air by as much as eight degrees in just 37 feet! This may not sound like a big number but consider this: the best an A/C unit can deliver is an 18F to 20F degree drop in temperature from the return (where the filter is), to the supply.  Now think about losing 8 degrees along the way, that's almost half.  Time to start focusing on this problem.   
Wrapping the ducts with our patented TCM Duct Wrap can cut this loss by as much as 50%.  This a low cost, high benefit,  do it yourself project or we can install it for you for $1 per linear foot.  The multiple layers insure it won't be affected by dust.
THERMAL LOSSES

Wrapping your ducting with our TCM duct wrap  cuts losses, delivers more energy per minute and reduced heat gain and heat loss during the off cycle.  This means the typical blast of hot air or frigid air at the start of each cooling or heating cycle is reduced considerably or eliminated.  Example: a correctly sized unit in a conventionally insulated home has approximately 5 run cycles per hour (that's conservative), 3600 per month or 28,000 for eight months (four  cooling months, four heating months). 

Do the math on the cubic foot volume of air your ducting has and you can imagine the savings.  You save money and increase comfort every time your a/c or furnace runs.  An excellent investment in any home.  Click here  to order TCM Duct Wrap for your home!  No questions asked money back satisfaction warranty.

INFRARED HEAT GAIN

    

Attic ducting with 1" of fiberglass for protection.  This was adequate when energy cost were low.

All of your attic ducting needs to be protected with our TCM Duct Wrap. Simply wrap the 48" wide, multi-layered membrane over the duct and tuck it under.  On square ducts or return chases, glue TCM to the surface with silicone and a caulking gun.  Lasts forever, unaffected by dust, gravity or moisture.             

Duct Leaks

We have found a few homes losing as much as 40% of conditioned air inside the attic!  Typically, leakage of 15 to 25 percent is very common. 


 

As you can see this supply duct is decomposing from superheated attic air and falling off the duct box.  This duct is beyond wrapping and must be replaced.  We now carry an awesome German attic fan that efficiently removes hot, stagnant, energy consuming hot air in your attic.  Best item to combine with our Thermal Control Membrane attic barrier for hot climates or RBS Chips for cold climates  

Most duct leaks occur at the plenum connection seen above where the hole must be cut by hand, typically in cramped attic areas.  The duct connections at the grill boxes are factory made rings and rarely leak any air at this point.  Focus on the plenum connections as follows:

This water based, fibrous, non hardening professional duct mastic in one gallon cans (2" brush included), is an investment that will last forever and pay for itself every second your a/c or furnace is running. 

Seal every connection of plenums, flex and return air chases.  Click here to order duct sealer.

RESTRICTIONS

This duct support is used during construction while the ducting is installed and there is no ceiling or insulation.  No wonder this room is hot in the summer and cold in the winter!  Before wrapping the flex duct, remove any restrictions like the one seen above.

 

In this case, just cutting the duct hangar and removing the kink increased the air flow below.

If you found this information helpful, please forward our site to your friends and family: www.savenrg.com

 

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