Comfort Tip-High Velocity Ducted System

There are several homes out there in which running ductwork just may not be practical. Every year we see several of these types of homes with limited or no space at all for our ductwork, yet the builder, homeowner or architect expects us to perform a miracle and just keep that nasty looking metal ductwork out of sight and out of mind. I have even seen several sets of house plans in which the heating and cooling is not even considered in the plans, this is a sad problem since most homes are uncomfortable and one of the most common complaints that a homeowner has with their new home is the temperature problems. Some of the issues that we run into is that there is no space or place to run the large rectangle ducts or our customer may insist that there can be no ductwork below the floor joist or no soffits built to conceal our ductwork. When this happens we do a lot of head scratching and try to come up with a logical solution without jeopardizing the homeowners comfort.

One of the solutions that we have available is to install a High Velocity Ducted System. With this type of ducted system we actual install several small pipes in the home instead of the commonly seen large ductwork. This type of system works really well for homes that are already built and the homeowner wants to add air conditioning but has limited space. It also works really well when we look at a new construction home with a large open floor plan. The open floor plans are becoming more and more popular due to advances in trusses and joist designs. With the open floor plans there are little to no interior walls in which we can run our ducts so the High Velocity makes a lot of sense.

Check out our You Tube Video in which we installed a High Velocity System for more information, or just give me a call at 913-268-6700.

Thanks

James Gallet

Envirotech Heating and Cooling

913-268-6700

Energy Tip- How "Cool" Is Your Ductwork

It is not "Cool" to have leaky ductwork in a home or office; however the ductwork is often an overlooked item even though it is a key component to your comfort system. Leaky ductwork in a heating and cooling system can waste hundreds of dollars every year and also cause a home or building to be uncomfortable. Your air distribution system is made up of two main pieces of ductwork or trunk line. One trunk "blows" the cool air in the summer and warm air in the winter to different rooms and areas, commonly called the supply duct. You also have another trunk that "sucks" air back to your furnace or fan coil to be reconditioned, commonly called the return duct. This cycle continues over and over again until the thermostat tells the system "I am good, you can stop running now".

Ducts naturally leak by the way they are constructed or installed, each connection point from one piece of duct to another is a potential source for air leakage because the ductwork will expand and shrink as the temperature of the air within the duct changes. Air can leak both in and out of your ductwork and this will cause your heating and cooling equipment to work harder and less efficient.

Your Comfort can be at stake if you have "leaky ducts" in your attic, crawl space or basement. Leaky return air ducts will allow unconditioned air to be returned back to the furnace or air handler instead of pulling air from the main living space. Leaky supply ductwork will not allow certain parts of a home to get the proper airflow; therefore rooms will be too hot or too cold.

Another key issue is Higher Utility Bills; think about it, if you are dumping cold air in the summer into your attic instead of where it needs to be then the air conditioner will have to run longer in order to get the home comfortable. This longer run cycles will cost you more in utilities. Another scenario could be if the return air duct is pulling warm (120 degree) air from an attic or crawl space during the summer instead of the air within the home (72 degrees). This 120 degree air is now mixing with the 72 degree return air and causing the air conditioner to work harder in order to get cold air coming out of your vents.

Leaky ductwork can also cause a Dusty Home, a typical home contains around 180 linear feet of ductwork and your ducts can accumulate more than 40lbs of household dust each year. Leaky ductwork will spread this dusty air throughout the home, while sealed ducts deliver cleaner, filtered air.

So what can you do? Well one thing that you can do is to have your ductwork sealed. This can be done by using the metal duct tape (not regular duct tape) or a mastic duct caulk; both can be found at most hardware stores. We also offer duct sealing as one of our services, so if you don't want to mess with it give us a call.

Please give us a call if you have any questions or comments about leaky ductwork anytime. You can also access a free brouchure on duct leakage and what to do by clicking in the following link: http://www.energystar.gov/ia/products/heat_cool/ducts/DuctSealingBrochure04.pdf?9bdc-34b6

James Gallet
913-268-6700
http://www.envirotechks.com/

Energy Tip-Air Filtration

Typically, during the winter months, we spend a lot more time indoors than we do outdoors. This is also when people tend to be sick more often, maybe it is the lack of sunlight or maybe it is the air within our homes. Who knows for sure, but we do know that the air inside our homes can be 5-Times more harmful to breathe than the air outside! Wow!

Choosing a good air filtration system is not only beneficial for you and your families health but it is also important in the protection of your homes heating and cooling system. There are several different types of air filters and systems on the market today for your home and business. Filtration systems are generally marketed towards protecting your personal health but like I said they also are important in protecting the well being of your heating and cooling system. So which one is right for you?

Well first of all lets discuss how they rate air filters. The common terminology used today to rate the effectiveness of air filters is their Minimum Efficiency Reporting Value, or "MERV" for short. The higher the MERV rating the more effective the air filter is at blocking and capturing indoor air particulates such as dust, dander, skin flakes, etc...

We recommend that you have at least a MERV 8 filter in your system. The Ultravation Systems that we install commonly is rated at a MERV 10. The 5" thick pleated filter needs to be replaced every six months and there are no mechanical parts to this system. Most filters that are sold at the hardware store for $3-$7 are no where near a MERV 8 and the cheaper filters that you buy at the hardware stores are rated somewhere in the MERV 1-2 range. There are a few 1" thick pleated filters on the market that are rated at a MERV 5, however you need to read between the lines. Some of the filter companies rate their filters after they are in use and not when they are brand new. So what this means is as the filter gets dirty its rating will increase.

So what do you do if you or someone in your family has severe allergies and the MERV 10 system just isn't good enough? One bit of advice is to have an Ultraviolet Light installed in your homes duct work. We can install a two bulb system that works very well. There is one UV light installed in the supply duct, just above your furnace that will kill any airborne allergen before they make their way to your vents and another installed in the return air duct above the air filter system, the unit in the return duct will kill anything before the filter and then the filter captures the airborne allergens.

Some people will require even a better system than a UV Light and Media Filter system. In that case we recommend a bypass type air filtration unit. This will be an externally mounted filtration system that will bypass air in your duct work and return the filtered air to the system. The reason that we cannot go with just a higher MERV rated filter system is due to airflow requirements once you get above a MERV 16 the airflow is really restrictive and can actually do damage to your homes heating system. The bypass unit still allows proper airflow to the system while allowing an additional amount of filtration.

For more information on the Ultravation products please visit http://www.envirotechks.com/indoor-air-quality if you have questions on the bypass models or anything else, then please feel free to give me a call.

Thanks

James Gallet