Lone Star Cooling and Heating
Get help with Duct Replacement
Call Lone Star Cooling and Heating, have us call you, or describe the issue.
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Call (325) 219-0005Replacing duct runs that are crushed, torn, disconnected or worn out, or a whole duct system that was undersized from the start, with ducts sized for the airflow the equipment actually needs.
01Duct replacement
Damage, age and sizing each lead to replacement for different reasons.
Flex duct that has been stepped on, squeezed by framing or left to sag between supports chokes off the air it carries. A short damaged section can often be replaced on its own.
Old flex duct liners turn brittle and split, duct board crumbles at its seams, and metal ducts in damp crawlspaces rust through. Past a certain point, sealing no longer holds and the run needs replacing.
When every room gets too little air and the filter and blower are fine, the ducts may simply be too small for the equipment. That is a sizing problem, solved by resizing the ducts rather than sealing them.
Air forced through ducts or grilles that are too small moves fast and makes noise. It often shows up when larger or newer equipment has been connected to the original ducts.
Duct insulation and duct board that have been soaked hold moisture and are hard to dry out properly, and flooded ducts under a floor can hold silt and debris. Ducts in that state are usually replaced rather than cleaned.
02Partial or full
How much of the duct system is sound decides how much of it needs to change.
The damage is local: one crushed or torn run, a branch that has come apart, a few rusted fittings. The rest of the system is the right size, sealed and in good condition, so replacing the damaged part brings the whole system back.
The ducts are failing throughout, were undersized from the start, or no longer suit the equipment or the layout of the building. Replacing them piece by piece would keep the original design flaws, so a new layout sized to the building makes more sense.
Duct Replacement
Serving Abilene, TX.
03Duct types
Both work. Each suits different parts of a system, and many systems use both.
A wire coil inside a plastic liner, wrapped in insulation and an outer jacket. It is quick to install and bends around obstacles, which suits short branch runs. It has to be stretched tight, supported along its length and kept free of kinks, or it gives up much of its airflow.
Rigid metal ducts have smooth insides that let air move with little resistance, and they hold their shape over the long term. They take more labor to fit, their joints must be sealed, and in an attic or crawlspace they are wrapped in insulation. Main trunks are commonly metal, with branches in either material.
04Sizing
A duct system is sized for the air it has to carry, room by room.
Every heating and cooling system is built to move a certain amount of air, and each room needs its share of it. Duct sizing works back from those figures, taking the length of each run, its bends and its fittings into account, so that every room gets the air it needs without the blower straining to push it there.
Ducts that are too small make the blower work against high resistance. The result is noisy vents, weak airflow, rooms that never reach the setting and equipment working harder than it should. Replacement is the point where that can be corrected, which is why a proper job starts with measurements and a design rather than copying the old sizes.
05What changes the job
Ducts in an open attic or basement are far easier to replace than ducts in a tight crawlspace, between floors or inside finished walls, where reaching them can mean opening ceilings or walls.
In older buildings, duct insulation, wraps and joint tape are tested for asbestos before anything is disturbed. If they contain it, removal comes first and is handled separately.
A new furnace, air handler or air conditioner may need a different amount of air than the one it replaces. Replacing the ducts at the same time lets them be sized for the new equipment.
06Questions
Not automatically. Ducts in good condition, and sized for the airflow the new equipment needs, can stay. They are worth checking at that point, though, because a new system on ducts that leak, sag or are too small will not perform the way it was designed to.
Not when it is installed properly. Flex duct that is pulled tight, supported at regular intervals and kept free of sharp bends moves air well. Trouble starts when it is left long, loose and sagging, or kinked around framing, which restricts airflow far more than a smooth metal run.
Some older duct systems used insulation, wraps or joint tape that contained asbestos. Material like that is left undisturbed until it has been tested, and if it does contain asbestos, specialists remove it before any duct work begins.
What the system is doing, when it started, what the thermostat is set to and what it reads, and whether the outdoor unit is running. The age of the equipment and a photo of its label help a technician arrive prepared.
Lone Star Cooling and Heating
Call Lone Star Cooling and Heating, have us call you, or describe the issue.
Prefer to talk?
Call (325) 219-0005