Installing heat pump in attic

The duct systems are warm during the winter so the rodents chew holes in the vapour barrier of the insulated duct and build their nests inside. This will cause excessive amounts of moisture and condensation that will eventually work its way across the attic and the ceiling of your home, not to mention you will have feces and other harmful things build up inside the ducting.

When it is the hottest outside it is much hotter in your attic and if you need a repair on one of these days, you may be waiting awhile before it is safe enough for a technician to work in such hot conditions. If a system needs a significant repair it could take a technician hours to complete and if the attic temperature is over 50C they wont be able to withstand being in such an environment for much more than 10 mins at a time. Here at Atmosphere we follow the department of health and safety recommendations and ensure that our employees are kept safe.

This is a real issue and in many cases we will not provide service for these types of systems. A clogged condensate drain can create big problems if they go unchecked.

This film of plastic is all sealed up with foam and acoustic sealant to block out air leakages and dust from the insulation that is lying in the attic.

When HVAC contractors install a ducted system in your attic they cut holes through this barrier and the drywall to install the vents that will supply the air to each room. When they cut these holes, however, many are not taking the time or material to properly re-seal the vapour barrier around the ducting that is now penetrating through to the interior of the house.

This will cause a lot of draft and heat loss during the winter as well as introduce a lot more dust from the fine particles of insulation that will become airborne as the system operates and pulls air back through the duct system return. If you already have a heat pump system installed in your attic and east way to tell if these holes have been properly sealed is to take the ceiling grill off and look between the drywall and the vent pipe that is coming down through.

If the plastic is just sitting there and there is no tuck tape or some form of acoustic sealant installed around the vent pipe then you are exposed to the attic and this is not good for your heating efficiency of the home. If a system is found to be improperly installed or installed against the manufactures recommendations an insurance company may forfeit any claims that may arise from water damage or other issues stemming from the heat pump system. It is very important to check and ensure that your home is covered in the event that there are issues with a heat pump system being installed in your attic.

Your email address will not be published. Skip to content. June 16, admin Leave a comment. The Ducting cannot be cleaned. Ductwork in between floors never works out well.

Originally Posted by vstech. Originally Posted by bpowell7. If your going to put in a package unit, then there won't be anything in the attic. So, if I understand what you're saying, they want to remove the current 3. First off, someone needs to do a load calculation on your house.

Four tons of AC in a sq. I suspect your problem is more duct related than anything else. To be sure, a package unit as old as yours should be replaced anyway. However, you may be able to still use a single 3. I'm the guy with the gun. Statements made by me are strictly my opinions and do not reflect the opinions of my employer.

I am not authorized to make any official statements on behalf of my employer. Any technical advice offered by me is for educational purposes only, all HVAC related repairs should only be attempted by qualified personnel. Thanks for the reply. What do you mean by a harsh environment? I'm not sure the trunk size. Are you saying we could put a second packaged unit outside that only feeds the ductwork for upstairs, which would still use our baseboard registers and ducting between floors?

So we'd get two new, roughly 2 ton each, package units that would both be outside? I am trying to run a legal but still discreet sealed room grow. CO2, ductless, several 1ks HIDs etc. I know and I plan to get one with all three but where I live, it's really a dead give away of a grow-op. The homes are new, the HVAC is 4 years old, when someone installs a heat pump it's for one thing As to the OP, looking around online it seems like people are trying it and it is working.

Jeffdt Active Member. Last time I looked at one they getting fairly reasonable pricewise May be just the ticket Jeffdt said:. I think you're talking about one of those Mitsubishi mini split system or something similar. The theory behind their operation is the "outside" unit pumps the heat into the atmosphere and exchanges it into cooling for the "indoor" section. If the outdoor and indoor sections are in the same room you will not get any cooling because the condenser will be putting the heat right back into the grow room.

He also said he wants to put the condensor in the attic. You might want to put Gable end fans in to remove as much heat from the attic as possible.

My bad, I thought you were talking about them in the same space. Post back with how it works out! There are already large vents around the roof, I can easily duct some fresh air right to the coils. The inverted mini splits look real promising. They don't kick on and off, they adjust compression to always be at a nominal level for the amount of radiant exchange needed.