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Heating & Air Conditioning

Pros and cons of floor AC vents?

5 years ago

House is on a crawl space and we just realized we can run the AC under the house and have the vents in the floor. I grew up in houses like this, but haven't noticed a new house done this way. Maybe it is common in other parts of the country? (I live in the deep south.)
Thanks for any and all input!

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Comments (5)

Bruce in Northern Virginia
5 years ago
Most new houses in the South are built on a concrete slab, so floor vents are not an option. In houses farther North, with basements or crawl spaces, vents are usually in the floor and they try to put them right under windows. This was the most common placement for many years because they thought your heat should be right near the biggest source of cold air (the window). With new high efficiency windows its not quite as important.

Since your primary need is cooling (not heat), it probably works a little better to have the vents up high, but it would certainly work with them coming up through the floor. The trade-off may be some challenges with furniture placement, depending on the exact location of the vents.

Bruce
Elmer J Fudd
5 years ago
Biggest advantage of floor vents is to not have the ducts or the equipment in the hot attic.
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Bruce in Northern Virginia
5 years ago
The preferred solution for new HVAC installations is to have all ducts in conditioned space. In the past, crawl spaces and attics were vented, and stayed at whatever temp and humidity it was outside. However, they are now designing houses with conditioned crawl spaces and conditioned attics. It is still quite uncommon in older homes.

Bruce
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Elmer J Fudd
5 years ago
I agree, Bruce, but I assumed this was an existing house. Running ducts through conditioned space in an existing structure is a significant amount of work and cost.

He was looking for suggestions, not an education.
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klem1
5 years ago
1. You've heard the main advantage is it being cooler on ducts and I agree. With vents on floor,return need's to be in ceiling or high on wall during cooling season to prevent stratification. That may require building a chase. I certainly would have no problem installing some vents in ceiling if it was difficult getting some in floor.
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