sarina
New Member
I am planning to replace all my ducts in the crawlspace since the current flex ducts are in horrible shape, not sealed at all, and crushed/sagging all over the place. Based on how poorly everything else was done with my HVAC system I highly doubt a manual J, S, or D was done when the new unit was installed four years ago.
I used coolcalc to do a Manual J report and was as specific as possible with everything. I also mapped out my floorplan in Q Cad along with exactly where all the vents are. I have a two story house I want to break into two zones (one per story), and I think I want to do all rigid except having flex for the last couple feet just to minimize noise and simplify alignment issues.
I started reading some relevant sections of the Manual D and it's pretty dense. I definitely think I could do it, but I am worried I wouldn't design the best system. I saw online that some people provide Manual D calculations as a service and now I'm wondering if that is the best choice.
I thought I would ask here first though. If I do read through the relevant sections of the Manual D and design my own duct routes/sizes using it, as long as I don't mess anything up is that design going to pretty much be the same as what someone who is more experienced would come up with? Is it fairly deterministic what the optimal duct layout is based on Manual D? Or is someone who is more experienced probably able to come up with a better layout following the same Manual D?
If anyone has suggestions on how to find a reputable Manual D service, or advice on what all I would need to provide for one, that would be welcome as well!
I used coolcalc to do a Manual J report and was as specific as possible with everything. I also mapped out my floorplan in Q Cad along with exactly where all the vents are. I have a two story house I want to break into two zones (one per story), and I think I want to do all rigid except having flex for the last couple feet just to minimize noise and simplify alignment issues.
I started reading some relevant sections of the Manual D and it's pretty dense. I definitely think I could do it, but I am worried I wouldn't design the best system. I saw online that some people provide Manual D calculations as a service and now I'm wondering if that is the best choice.
I thought I would ask here first though. If I do read through the relevant sections of the Manual D and design my own duct routes/sizes using it, as long as I don't mess anything up is that design going to pretty much be the same as what someone who is more experienced would come up with? Is it fairly deterministic what the optimal duct layout is based on Manual D? Or is someone who is more experienced probably able to come up with a better layout following the same Manual D?
If anyone has suggestions on how to find a reputable Manual D service, or advice on what all I would need to provide for one, that would be welcome as well!