help a girl with duct repair

[richardjuli]

The mobile home my parents live in is about 15 years old. It is 80x16 ft. Last summer the central air unit wasn't keeping the house cool and didn't at all this summer. We had a HVAC company come put in a new central air unit. It is a bigger unit, better blower etc than what came in the home. Yet, it still doesn't cool the home. The tech came back and checked it over and said the unit and blower are working correctly. He says there is most likely gaps in the ductwork underneath. He doesn't do that work and doesn't know anyone that does. The ducts are an energy efficient type; they resemble a fiberboard material....whatever ducts came with an "energy efficient" package 15 years back. We did find a section that was crushed and had a hole, repaired it, yet still there is no little air flow coming out the vents on one side of the house and the house stays at about 80 degrees even though the thermostat is at 70. Any advice on duct repair....best tape or products to use?

[danomac]

Have you ever had the ducts cleaned?

If you found a crushed section it's possible there's lint and who knows what else in the ducts.

When I bought mine I had all the ducts cleaned before I first turned on the furnace in the fall. I couldn't believe what the guy vacuumed out of there, it filled a 30 gallon garbage can over 3/4 full. The guy told me it was the dirtiest one he'd seen in several years. I told him it was the previous owner!

[Greg]

Hi & welcome. It sounds to me like there is most likely another section with a problem or possibly multiple "small" leaks. I would start by checking each register and make sure the duct is properly sealed. You can take a mirror & good flashlight and get a good look at the ducts in both directions when you have the register off. You can also get a good idea how much dirt is there as well.

Check around the bottom of the furnace also, there may be an air leak there.

Greg

[daratt17]

Hi. Not sure if this will help you or not in your area, but in my area, Washington State, there is a program through the power company where they pay to have any mobile home with electric heat, even if you have a heat pump, to have all your duct work sealed! My home was done yesterday and they spent about 5 hours working. Before they started they tested the pressure leakage in my ducts at 320 and when they finished they had it all the way down to 80, which is a big difference. You may want to call your power company and see if they have any kind of program like this. If your ducts need sealed, this is a great program. Good luck!!

[jpingram5]

Sounds like it could be a duct leakage issue. I would hire a contractor to come in and do a before test and then after they seal it to do another test to see the difference. Sealing the ducts can make a big impact if you have a lot of leakage.

And just a tip, I found this out in my own mobile home. The air handler is located right outside our master room. So the master room would blow hard and cool really well. At the other end where 2 more bedrooms are they wouldn't blow near as hard or cool as good. I inserted a piece of sheet metal through the fiberglass duct board to help deflect the air in hopes it would force more towards the other end. After messing around with it for a while it did really work and still does. It's almost like a damper that you would use in a supply feed, except this one is for the duct trunk. Good luck.