When I bought this house it had hvac installed. The ac leaked and the duct work was so corroded that most of my heat/air blew under my house rather than in it. Also, the gas furnace made me nervous having lost family to a gas furnace fire as a teen.
So I have not used the hvac for years. I have a combo heat and air unit installed through the wall and it works fine. I’m doing some underbelly work right now (repairing where previous owners had blown insulation overloaded into the belly) and I’m wondering how difficult it would be to remove the units and ductwork. I’m not using them anyway so they’re basically just in the way.
Removing HVAC and ductwork
Apologies for not having seen this sooner!!
i completely removed ALL of the bottom side ducting - including the entire belly and insulation. Critters had got into the belly - and the ducting looked like swiss cheese. It took some doing, but I was able to re-configure the ducting so that all of it stayed inside the house..... and ALL of it is now metal. Now more styrafoam junk.
Once all the ducts are removed what remains is the floor vents. Being the vent is now allowing under house vapors (and smells) to come up inside - you will probably want to cap them off. I did mine by inserting some 1/4" hardware fabric in the vent hole.....then filling it with great stuff foam to seal it off. I still have all of the "vents" - but their only function now is to cover the hole so i don't stick a leg through it.
If you tear out the ducting - AND you tear out the belly, I would highly recommend you have someone come in a do the spray foam insulation. The nice aspect is that the foam will fill every little knock and cranny - and totally insulates the bottom side.
it may well be possible to convert your HVAC over to electric by replacing just the heating parts. And, depending on the age of the home - you might be able to acquire a used exchange unit on craigslist or elsewhere.
there are a lot of different ways to go.
i completely removed ALL of the bottom side ducting - including the entire belly and insulation. Critters had got into the belly - and the ducting looked like swiss cheese. It took some doing, but I was able to re-configure the ducting so that all of it stayed inside the house..... and ALL of it is now metal. Now more styrafoam junk.
Once all the ducts are removed what remains is the floor vents. Being the vent is now allowing under house vapors (and smells) to come up inside - you will probably want to cap them off. I did mine by inserting some 1/4" hardware fabric in the vent hole.....then filling it with great stuff foam to seal it off. I still have all of the "vents" - but their only function now is to cover the hole so i don't stick a leg through it.
If you tear out the ducting - AND you tear out the belly, I would highly recommend you have someone come in a do the spray foam insulation. The nice aspect is that the foam will fill every little knock and cranny - and totally insulates the bottom side.
it may well be possible to convert your HVAC over to electric by replacing just the heating parts. And, depending on the age of the home - you might be able to acquire a used exchange unit on craigslist or elsewhere.
there are a lot of different ways to go.
Opportunity has a shelf life.
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