Fan Duct System- A Crucial component of the HVAC system.
Fan duct system knowledge for home owners is very important. Keep yourself informed before you hire contractor for any expensive HVAC repair or install. Find best electrician near your zip code.
The significant part of every house of the 21st century is the thermal control unit. With the advancement in the technology, the air conditioning unit and the heating unit are integrated into one system called the Heating Ventilating and Air Conditioning System. The heart of a HVAC system is the duct system. It basically maintains the constant flow of conditioned or heated air throughout the home. The duct system can be made of metal sheet, fiberglass, insulated plastic, steel, copper, paper fiber or a mixture of any of these materials. Irrespective of what material this duct system is made of, it provides the same crucial function in all cases, i.e. controlling the path of the flow of air.
How the system works
Fan duct cooling
The first section is called the return air. This part takes the air from the rooms to the inlet of the furnace. The air gets cleaned here. Fresh air is added, if needed. The humidity level is adjusted. After this, the air travels to the furnace where its heat content is adjusted. The heat is either removed or added to the air, depending on the weather outside. If it’s chilly weather outside, heat content will be added to the air to attain the thermal requirement whereas if it’s hot sunny weather outside, the heat content will be absorbed from the air. After being treated, the air travels to the supply section from where it gets delivered to the rooms.
There are two types of supply systems that are used in the HVAC systems. They are, Extended Plenum and Central Plenum.
In the Central Plenum System, all the branches of duct system start at a single point, i.e. plenum.
In the Extended Plenum System, a single rectangular duct extends from the furnace which later divides into branches for efficient airflow. The extended Plenum system provides better efficiency as the extension provides better airflow rate.
