Tech Talk 

 

We Test & Balance Commercial Air Systems . Why Do We Ignore Residential? 

 

We test and balance every commercial air conditioning system for proper airflow, installation and operation. Why do we forget about Residential Systems? The residential designs are not as good as a commmercial designs. Most of residential duct systems we find are flex and box systems with long runs stretched across the house and Installed by the cheapest bidder. The commercial duct systems are duct board or sheet metal, and still installed by the cheapest bidder. A ductboad trunk system will out perform a flex and box system, yet we pay no attention to residential systems why? We field phone calls every day about hot rooms cold rooms in residential situations.  After lots of testing & balancing we have found that residential systems need more attention than the commercial systems do. Don't Leave Money On The Table! There are lots of opportunitys for residential air balancing out there and it needs to be done.

One person can balance a house and never leave interior living area www.iaddampers.com 

If you have 4" lines in bath rooms and walk in closets in your house you have balancing issues, these are designed to be low CFM rooms and are robbing air from places it is needed. Installing  Internal Air Dampers in the 4" and 5" lines in your home will improve the air flow to the rest of your home and your air conditioning system will perform like it was designed to do.

 

                                                                        Test Don't Guess!

                                                                    www.iaddampers.com 

 

What Effects Does Duct Cleaning Have On Residential Air Balancing? 

 

That's a great question, so we dug a little deeper. After receiving the question what effect does duct cleaning have on residential air balancing? I talked to a few companys that do duct cleaning here is what I get out of it. Duct cleaning is done from inside the house they remove the supply grille and send there cleaner into the supply branch until it stops or bottoms out 1 or 2 times, they do not have any idea if there is a commercial air damper inline or not and this can cause the balancing damper to be knocked out of adjustment or maybe even closed causing hot rooms cold rooms and call backs. Anyone who has worked with commercial dampers knows that the wing nuts will not tighten down very tight if they tighten down at all. I am going to say this sounds like another situation where the commercial air damper does not fit the residential application. On the other hand if you have a internal air damper installed in the duct collar and they come to duct clean, they will need to remove the IAD to do there cleaning and replace it when done. The design of the IAD allows for the damper to be removed and replaced without lossing its adjustment so no return trip would be needed to rebalance the home. 

                                                                   

                                                                       Test Don't Guess!

                                                                    www.iaddampers.com 

 

Do You Have Hot Room Cold Room Situations In Your Home?

 

You are not alone, most houses have cooling issues with the rooms that are the farthest away from air handler unit. We always balance the air flow on commercial duct systems yet we forget about the residential systems? We have devleloped the Internal Air Damper for residential applications. The IAD will allow you to put the air back into the rooms it was designed for and improve your air systems efficiency. The IAD  is easy to  install and adjust, and it can be removed and reinstalled and still hold its adjustment. Air is like water it will find the path of least resistance if not dampered and directed where to go.   

 

                                                                       Test Don't Guess!

 

Hot Rooms On The Far Side Of The House? 

 

Wow everybody has the same answer! (YES) It does not matter who you ask everyone has hot room cold room situations in their home. I am not downing anyones designs but the fact is every air conditioning system, residential or commercial needs to be balanced for optimal performance.  Your airhandler is usally located in the garage, basement, attic or in a crawl space close to one side of the house. It is the rooms on the opposite side of the house that suffer. Most of the time it is the master bedroom. Air is like water and it will find the path of least resistance. This being said any 4" or 5" flex lines close to the airhandler unit should be dampered. This will push air back into system where it belongs and help with the airflow in other rooms that need it. The Internal Air Damper system is easy to install and cost efficient.

Not sure how to measure air flow? The most accurate way is to use a flow hood or some people use a CFM tester that plugs into there phone. Don't want to spend the money on a tester than have some fun and check out the Bag Trick at www.iaddampers.com 

The bag trick will show you how test the airflow with a garbage bag and a stop watch it is fun and it is a great visual effect.  Walk in closets and small baths are low CFM air drops the designs range from 2 CFM to 20 CFM and a 4" line will deliver a lot more air than that if it is not dampered.