The HVAC unit installed in your home is responsible for its heating and cooling as the weather demands. The unit alone does not determine how efficiently it will work. There are many other factors that play a role in deciding so. One such decisive factor is the duct size. Are you surprised to hear that? But that’s the truth. You must be wondering how on earth can the duct size be important, after all, it just expels air? Moreover, what is the correct duct size and is there an HVAC duct sizing rule of thumb? Well, the purpose of this article is to answer these questions and help you understand the importance of ducts.
Ducts are channels or passages that are used in heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) to distribute fresh and get rid of stale air. The HVAC unit fills the supply plenum with either cooled or heated air, as desired. It is directed via the ductwork of the system. When fresh air enters a room, it pushes out the already present air from the room into yet another set of ducts. These ducts then deliver the stale air to the return plenum.
HVAC Duct Sizing Rule Of Thumb
A lot of times, your AC contractor would want to size your AC using the rule of thumb. Since you don’t know what it is, you must be flabbergasted. In the simplest of terms, the rule of thumb states – for every 500 square feet of air-conditioned floor area install an AC of one-tonne capacity.
Why Does Duct Size Matter?
One thing pretty clear is that you need to have appropriately sized ducts for the HVAC to work effectively. But why is that so? Here’s the answer to your question. Ducts that are small in size make your HVAC system work harder to keep your home at the desired temperature. If your duct size is big, the velocity of air gets compromised. It means you will not be able to feel the air flowing through the air vents.
How To Calculate The Duct Size
You have read above about the HVAC duct sizing rule of thumb. Now, let’s have a look at all the things you need to know in order to calculate the best duct size for your home. The formula is a little complicated and involves the following things –
1. Area of your home in square feet.
2. The size of your air conditioning unit.
3. Airflow velocity.
4. Friction loss.
5. The static pressure of the HVAC unit.
In order to calculate the duct size, proceed as follows –
1. Look on your furnace to see how many BTUs (British Thermal Unit) it produces. This information is usually given on the furnace plate. Divide that number by 10,000.
2. Multiply the answer by the Cubic Feet per Minute (CFM) airflow of your furnace. Commonly, 100 CFM is produced by a natural draft furnace, 130 CFM by an induced furnace and 150 CFM by a condensing furnace.
3. Divide the answer you get in step 2 by 10. What you get is the measure of airflow permitted by the HVAC unit in your home.
4. Now calculate the duct size by multiplying the length with width. For example, if the vent size is 4 by 8 inches, the total CFM is 32 (4×8) per vent.
5. Now divide the CFM per vent by the total amount of CFM for the furnace.
6. Calculate the square feet of each room by multiplying the room length with its width.
7. Finally, divide the number of vents by the total square feet of each room.
This calculation is confusing, and we know that. Your best option is to use an online calculator for figuring out the duct size for your home. Ideally, every room which is 100 square feet or less needs at least one vent and two or three vents for a room size bigger than that.
Using An Online Duct Size Calculator
Even professionals use online calculators or programmed calculators to figure out the duct size. If you also use one, there is no harm. They are simple to use and give reliable output. However, HVAC professionals have more sophisticated tools at their disposal, and hence, their calculations are more reliable and precise.
Our Recommendation
It is good that you want to design the HVAC duct system of your home. Still, we strictly advise that you consult a professional with expertise in this context to validate your calculations. It is because a mistake on your part can prove to be costly, both in terms of money and effort. The size of your ducts can alter the comfort level inside your home drastically. It also determines the amount that you spend to keep your home appropriately cooled or heated. Since the biggest contributor in your electricity bill is your HVAC unit, you want to get your calculations correct in the first instance itself.
Conclusion
Now that you know how vital ducts are in keeping your home comfortable and managing your electricity bills, you know why they need to be sized precisely. However, you also know that the calculation itself is complicated and based on a number of other factors. Making your job easy are the HVAC professionals. You need not worry about calculating the duct size. Just ask your HVAC company to send somebody who can do the needful and give you the precise size. These people are trained for the job and can deliver accurate results with far less trouble than yourself. In the state of Florida, Aztil AC is at your disposal to help you in calculating the duct size and other problems related to your HVAC. The AC is your home is its very heart, and we are ready to take care of your heart for you. Our team consists of qualified people who know their job well. You can place your trust in us without second thoughts. We guarantee your complete satisfaction.
Frequently Asked Questions – FAQs
There are 4 things you need to know to calculate the HVAC duct size for your home:
Square footage or surface area of the house.
Square footage of every room in the house.
CFM or cubic feet per minute.
The friction loss rate of the ducts.
Unfortunately, the formula to calculate duct size is not an easy one. If you have the above information handy, we suggest using an online HVAC duct size calculator. Else, you should contact a professional HVAC technician to help you out.
For a room size of 12×12 feet, a supply duct of 4×8 inches will be adequate as it translates to about 144 CFM. But do bear in mind that this is just the “rule of thumb,” which tends to vary from home to home and HVAC system to HVAC system. Safety lies in letting the HVAC contractor do the sizing of the ductwork. This way, you will never go wrong.
1 ton of cooling is equal to 400 CFM approximately.
Hence, the airflow of a 3-ton heat pump is roughly 1200 CFM (400 x 3). Divide the CFM by 2 to get the filter grill size, which in this case will be:
122/2 = 600 square inches
Therefore, the total area of all the grills must be equal to a minimum of 600 square inches for adequate air supply to the system.
The size of the ducts in your home does not solely depend on the size of the residence. It also takes into account the size of each individual room. Therefore, to know the duct size, you will need to know the square footage of each room in addition to the square footage of the complete house.
When designing ducts, there is no standard rule of thumb that applies. Nevertheless, there are a few factors that you may consider. These are:
Try to maintain a 1:4 ratio of height to width.
If the ceiling in your home is low, the duct height should be less than 250 mm.
Assume velocity as 500 fpm when designing ducts for grills and diffusers.
When designing the main duct, consider the friction factor as .08 inch/100 feet.
