Ac Ducting Without Attic

Use the right materials fittings and supports.

Ac ducting without attic. Low budget install window units. This means the ducts must be inside the structure and enclosed by drywall. Here s a typical scenario for a 2 000 2 500 square foot two story. Connecting an attic air handler to ceiling ducts in a single story home is a quick project.

Installing ductwork is a 1 4 day job because of the wide range of scenarios. Installing ducts in a multistory home goes more slowly since wall stacks are included. Iv conditioned attic and more. You can get the air handler and ducts into conditioned space in several ways without needing a basement or crawl space.

If ductwork is covered with insulation without an additional vapor barrier there is not enough air flow inside to dry sweating ductwork. You stated the townhouse has no attic crawl space or basement. In more cases than not a 3 ton ac with the ducts in the attic has a ton or so of load that s just from the location of the ducts in the attic and the associated duct gains leakage etc. The remaining 2 tons of capacity is at least 1 5x oversized for the actual 1 load.

In a home with a single zone system this type of setup requires one air handler that connects to one outdoor unit. Attics can be problematic when insulation is located in the attic floor rather than in the rafter bays or better yet outside the roof sheathing. That would be 4 items worth pricing out and see what is affordable. With this system you can have a similar form of ac without having any ductwork installed in your home.

Iii special trusses that create space below the unconditioned attic. The reason ductwork is exposed is because it sweats in the summer when a c is on the surrounding air will dry the sweat. A through the wall p tac would be possible hotel type unit or a ductless splits up on the walls. This option is called a mini split ductless ac system.

Ii lowered ceilings in hallways. I lowered soffits around room perimeters. With certain builders this was a common method back in the 70 s they used internally lined fiberboard duct and then enclosed it in a chase with drywall. If your system includes air purifiers with activated charcoal filters these also affect air flow and may require larger ducts and or additional air returns.

Certain types of air conditioning systems like heat pumps require larger ducts. When ducts are located outside the conditioned space they should be sealed to prevent loss of conditioned air and also insulated to prevent thermal loss or gain from the ambient air.