Hi,
We are currently building a semi-custom home in Ohio. When I visited the other day, I noticed that they had attached some sheet metal and some kind of foil backed material to the studs and floor trusses near the furnace. After some research, I now know that they’re planning on using some floor / wall cavity for air returns. There is a metal duct box above where the furnace will go. On one side, they have attached the foil backed material, some osb, and sealed with mastic. This runs a couple feet to where the garage is. From here there is insulated rigid ductwork that runs to the attic and flexible to the returns in each room.
On the other side of this metal box, this same foil, osb, mastic reaches a wall where they cut the top plates and attached sheet metal to the back of the studs. A rectangular frame has been attached to the wall near the floor. It appears this will be the air return of the basement “rec room”. Finally, there is a rigid metal duct going to the returns in the basement bedroom and office.
So it appears to me that 2/3 or more of the return air will be passing through a floor or wall cavity. However, these runs are fairly short (around 4ft of floor cavity on either side of the box, and the height of one wall). Is this acceptable in a new home in 2021? This is not a national tract builder, but a smaller local custom and semi-custom builder (we took a plan they had built before, moved some walls, adjusted square footage, etc.) We had even paid extra for a variable system with two zones (one zone in basement, the other on the main floor), 95% efficiency (though I don’t know the exact specs yet).
Thanks!
We are currently building a semi-custom home in Ohio. When I visited the other day, I noticed that they had attached some sheet metal and some kind of foil backed material to the studs and floor trusses near the furnace. After some research, I now know that they’re planning on using some floor / wall cavity for air returns. There is a metal duct box above where the furnace will go. On one side, they have attached the foil backed material, some osb, and sealed with mastic. This runs a couple feet to where the garage is. From here there is insulated rigid ductwork that runs to the attic and flexible to the returns in each room.
On the other side of this metal box, this same foil, osb, mastic reaches a wall where they cut the top plates and attached sheet metal to the back of the studs. A rectangular frame has been attached to the wall near the floor. It appears this will be the air return of the basement “rec room”. Finally, there is a rigid metal duct going to the returns in the basement bedroom and office.
So it appears to me that 2/3 or more of the return air will be passing through a floor or wall cavity. However, these runs are fairly short (around 4ft of floor cavity on either side of the box, and the height of one wall). Is this acceptable in a new home in 2021? This is not a national tract builder, but a smaller local custom and semi-custom builder (we took a plan they had built before, moved some walls, adjusted square footage, etc.) We had even paid extra for a variable system with two zones (one zone in basement, the other on the main floor), 95% efficiency (though I don’t know the exact specs yet).
Thanks!
source https://hvac-talk.com/vbb/threads/2228349-Air-returns-in-floor-wall-cavity-new-construction?goto=newpost
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