Sarah wants to convert her one-car garage into conditioned space and add two to three duct runs to her existing 3.5-ton HVAC unit. Derek Cole and a co-host discuss whether the unit can handle it, covering load calculations, duct sizing, and how adding runs affects airflow to the rest of the home.
Questions this episode answers
1027 square feet
1227 square feet
Three and a half ton (3.5 ton)
Two to three airways (duct runs)
June 7, 2022
Foreign.
I'm Derek Cole, host of the Derek Cole Podcast and we believe in taking the time to explain how things work for your air at home or your business. Let's get into today's episode. Please listen closely and maybe even take some notes so you can remember these insights of home comfort and energy savings and share this episode with three of your friends because we all need to share better ways to be more comfortable at home. Be sure to tag me or DM me on Instagram Derek Mcole so I can say hi. Thanks again for listening and let's begin.
I have a question. My home is only 1027 square feet with a three and a half ton unit. We are enclosing a one car garage which will make it 1227 square feet. The garage is on the side of the house where the sun sets. We wanted to add two to three airways to add airflow into the garage that is insulated. Would this be a problem or a concern?
Hey Sarah, thank you for the question. A couple things, you're going from 1027 to 1227, which is, you know, you're adding 200 square feet and three and a half ton unit. That comes up to about 350 square for the ton, which sounds a little large to me. Sounds like too much of a unit. But really won't know unless you do a load analysis on the home. It's gonna, you know, things are going to factor into it. Insulation in the walls, in the ceiling, in the floor, windows. What kind of windows where the windows at? Northeast, Southwest. But it sounds like a little bit of a tube. That unit is too big because right now it's sitting on 1027 square feet, which is really sounds big. So a couple concerns is that is the unit size properly and do you have a duct system that can handle a three and a half ton probably with that square footage you don't have a unit duct system that handles that unit. So tapping into, tapping into it with two runs is going to be a challenge because you're taking away from the main home and you're adding a room to it which has three outside walls.
Right.
You can run that garage and trying to condition it as three outside walls and trying to condition that that space with two runs from the existing duct system system. So that could also be a concern. That room is probably a challenge to keep comfortable and then it might also affect the whole home in the com because you're tapping to, you're tapping into a existing system. So that room's not going to be comfortable and then the whole home in turn is not be comfortable because now you're, you know, putting you know, 2 to 400 CFM of air that was once in the home to that extra room that you're adding onto it. So a couple things to check. Love the question, appreciate the question. A few things need to be done. They do a load analysis to see what the actual home needs with that room added to it. And is that duct system big enough for that three and a half ton? It sounds like the units too big. But again, you know something, I wouldn't know for sure until you do a load analysis on that home with the new room to see what needs to be done. I think once you do that you'll see it's probably a little different and then you can size the duct system and airflow and make this system be designed for that home and actually be comfortable.
Okay I hope you enjoyed this episode of the Derek Cole Podcast. Tell some people about this episode. It's on each of us really to spread the better ways to be healthier and more comfortable in our homes and workspaces. I'm asking you to be the dealer of positive and life changing messages in your circle of influence. Take a screenshot right now and share this screenshot and the link to this episode with three of your friends to today share it on social media. Use the hashtag Healthy Home. That's Healthy Home. We are always giving away shout outs prizes to our community. If you would like to help me personally then please rate and review on Apple podcasts. Give us some stars. Leave a review because that stuff actually does help and I read all the comments. So my last thought for today please remember you deserve better air at home and greater comfort at home. Don't settle for being uncomfortable for your heating air every single month. We are so thankful for having you here in our community and be sure to go deeper with us at simmons1hour.com.
