Recent experience with electronic duct dampers?

[HDClown]

Thank-you Del.
 
Yeah never seen insulation inside of a duct before.  I have seen tin tacked inside of a space 16" between studs used for returns.  In the old house the flex ducting in the attic was insulated such that it looked twice as round.

 
Ever seen this stuff?  Not sure if this is what DEL was talking about, but this is used commonly here in FL.  It's called duct board and it's rigid insulated panel, R-6 value, just like flex duct.
 

 
Usually it's just used for a few things like the main stack off the air handler, and as junctions between large trunk flex ducts into duct board boxes (often custom made) which then have smaller flex duct to the boots in the walls, and it's often used to build the return plenum, but I still see people use tin for return plenum and then insulation wrap it (my parents townhouse has this).  They'll also use ductboard between floors as an alternative to tin.
 
Unless a customer requests otherwise, they generally always go flex otherwise because it's easier to work with.  I'm actually planning to go rigid with ductboard when I redo my system.  They'll use all ductboard for all trunk/distribution on supply/return and then come off that with flex to get to the boots in the walls.  They do flex for the "last mile" like because it's A LOT more cost effective  than getting rigid all the way to the boots in the walls.

 

[pete_c]

Ever seen this stuff?
 
No.
 
Thank you. 
 
Yup not seen this in FL but never paid attention to HVAC in townhouses / condos owned (or any of this stuff way back in the 80's-90's).
 
I do recall seeing many swamp coolers in homes in the 1970's.
 
Newest home (elevated ranch on the water) built in the early 2000's the air handler is in the garage and used one large return and flex tubes for the supplies in the attic.  They are insulated and the attic is very large.  I had issues as there were new construction codes relating to FEMA stuff back then.  It is sort of hurricane proof. The old house (built around 1955 and torn down around late 1990's) that was there also had forced air / heat.  I am not sure how it was done because there was a guest partition or house separated from the main house but connected to the garage.  Thinking the ductwork was on the flat roof at the time.
 
I do hear air flow noise in two of the closest bedrooms.  It is a PITA to service the air handler up some 20 feet or so in the garage.
 
The heat pump outdoor AC compressor is also elevated in a sort of enclosed cement thing on the side of the house and is up over 6 feet and you have to use a ladder to service it which is also a PITA.

 

[IVB]

Pretty amazing... my wife and I were just looking at (2) adjacent lots that would total just over 1 acre and back up to a man made lake. Currently listed for 79k

 
Holy cow! I'd ask where but I don't know if I want to know.
 
Then again, I do *love* the diversity of Oakland, walkability, train station is a 5m walk, access to jobs, weather, and the total lack of pretentiousness that is San Francisco. My block does a biweekly neighborhood "happy hour" every other Friday from 6-8pm in front of someone's house, BYOB. Everyone wants to have a drink and chill, but very few are willing to go to a bar (or have kids that make restaurants expensive). That cohesion despite widely disparate backgrounds means even people from other parts of Oakland want to move to this neighborhood, and people in the neighborhood want to move onto our block. Thats worth 5 security systems just by itself.
 
Of course, that has a *direct* impact on housing prices, its one of 9 zip codes in the entire Bay Area that has gone up every single year, no impact from the recession. No way could I afford my own house now.

 

[drvnbysound]

My home, and most here built in the past 20 years, have the insulated panel board used for the main A/C duct, as well as the portion of the return air that ties into the air handler.

 

[ano]

The company I work for has had an office in Mountain View for 37 years. Yesterday I heard they were closing it and everyone would work from home, which I was already doing. Prices are just too insane.

 

[pete_c]

insulated panel board
 
Never paid attention much in FL like here in the Midwest until.    In FL there is a big box in the attic there that is attached to the large return and it is probably insulated panel board. 

 

[Del91574]

Ever seen this stuff?  Not sure if this is what DEL was talking about, but this is used commonly here in FL.  It's called duct board and it's rigid insulated panel, R-6 value, just like flex duct.
 

 
Usually it's just used for a few things like the main stack off the air handler, and as junctions between large trunk flex ducts into duct board boxes (often custom made) which then have smaller flex duct to the boots in the walls, and it's often used to build the return plenum, but I still see people use tin for return plenum and then insulation wrap it (my parents townhouse has this).  They'll also use ductboard between floors as an alternative to tin.
 
Unless a customer requests otherwise, they generally always go flex otherwise because it's easier to work with.  I'm actually planning to go rigid with ductboard when I redo my system.  They'll use all ductboard for all trunk/distribution on supply/return and then come off that with flex to get to the boots in the walls.  They do flex for the "last mile" like because it's A LOT more cost effective  than getting rigid all the way to the boots in the walls.

No.

Tin with insulation inside of it. Duct board is compressed fiberglass. Insulation and duct in one action, some can have stray fibers and it looks like the one you linked has a coating to maybe help that.
 
I wouldn't do ductboard personally.....how would one clean or do anything inside to address IAC? Labor is going to be close to the same, only thing ductboard is going to address is the cost of material and fabrication, which if you get a good tin fab shop and design, they can crank out just as fast as fabbing with board and then send the pieces to the site ready to go. It's how commercial is commonly done.
 
Rigid trunk, then branches in flex or round with flex to the boots. Then pooky on all the Pittsburgs.

 

[pete_c]

Here got involved a bit with a local HVAC company in the 1980's relating to using computers for bean counting. 
 
The office had a large storage warehouse and tin cutting shop where they did most of the tin cutting for commercial stuff. 
 
I was amazed how elaborate their set up was.  Over the years learned a bunch from the owner and company about this HVAC stuff.
 
 
That said this was in the midwest.  In FL didn't really pay attention until building a house from scratch and at that time concentrated made many assumptions that I was going to get there what I saw here in the midwest.