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Heating & Air Conditioning Building a Home Design Dilemma

New Construction HVAC Air Supply Vent Design

14 days ago

Hello! I just received the first draft for my HVAC plans for a new home build in South Florida and wanted to get some input on the placement of the air supply and return vents for the large living room/dining room that is mainly floor to ceiling windows.

Does this vent layout look appropriate for a room this size with this amount of sunlight coming in from all directions? Any input would be greatly apprecited. Thanks in advance!

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Comments (6)

PRO
Mark Bischak, Architect
14 days ago
I must defer judgement to the person that laid out the ductwork and knows more pertinent information about the project and its location than provided.
klem1
14 days ago
There is a saying old as time that go's something like this "Anyone that act's as their own lawyer has a fool for a client". The same could be said of anyone acting as their own GC and cruising the web for help with sub-contractors. If you don't have a trusted support group,get out of general contracting now. If you are paying a GC then second guessing his subs based on advice from the web,you need to stay out of his hair or hire a different GC.
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Comments (11)
We faced similar issues with our build (http://bamasotan.us/2018/11/decisions-decisions-and-ducting/) that sounds like a similar 4 level with lots of steel and LVL's to yours. We did have a meeting with our Builder, HVAC, Architect, and structural engineer to work out these issues. Many issues were worked out (replaced an LVL with steel to allow ducts to get through, changed truss spacing, etc.) but some things didn't get resolved in that meeting that they still needed to work on and everyone said that they would. We talked about a number of alternatives but the trade-offs were all such that sticking with standard forced air was the better decision. We do have in-floor heat (minimal cool if needed) throughout the lower level in addition to forced air. We were quite unpleasantly surprised to find ducts run up a corner of our dining room and through my master closet. We had a couple of meetings to look at alternatives but in the end the recommendation was to keep them and work around them. I'm still quite concerned and unhappy about what impact this will have on the dining room and the loss of space in my closet. The only other 'issue' is that one of the HVAC systems is located above my closet and so nearly above our master bedroom. We were assured by the HVAC folks that they'd be able to isolate everything enough that it'll not bother us with noise or vibration when sleeping. I'm quite nervous about it but for now am relying on their word. * BTW, I didn't look over the structural drawings in much detail but was quite surprised when framing began that there were trusses over non-structural walls. Typically this is avoided (and usually not difficult to avoid) since it creates problems for getting HVAC, plumbing and sometimes electrical in to those walls.
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mike_home
14 days ago
It is hard to tell from this one drawing how the supplies and returns are connected. Is the main supply located in the attic? Are the supply vents 4 feet X 1 inch? If so then why so many and so narrow? I am not used to seeing these type of vents. Is this typical for new builds in Florida?

Are the fours vents at the top supplies or returns? The supplies should be near the big south facing window, and supplies on the east and west wall, with the returns on the north wall.

The 90 degree turn in the main duct needs to be rounded. If it is built as drawn there will be increased air turbulence and noise. If the duct work is in the attic then is should have R-8 insulation.
PRO
Patricia Colwell Consulting
14 days ago
IMO we cannot answer this ever . As for the sun IMO you needto control it and my go to are solar shades that control heat and UV rays but allow you to keep the view but the HVAC pro is who understands the climate and your home not a bunch of strangers on the internet .
3onthetree
13 days ago
It looks like you have (4) supply registers between the dining table and living seating. That is the sole conditioned air, being pulled into the (4) return registers along the back (South) wall across the living room. Full windows on the West, (2) sliders on the South, (1) slider on the East Dining, and can't tell the Living East wall. It appears to be a reflected ceiling plan and some sort of concrete construction.

The HVAC does not appear that it will provide adequate comfort for this space.
PRO
Charles Ross Homes
11 days ago
The supplies are slot diffusers which are common in commercial construction and contemporary style homes.

If you'd like to evaluate whether the design is appropriate for the task, I suggest you ask your HVAC designer to review with you the room-by-room cooling loads, duct design (manual D) and the manual T results (air distribution.)

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