Derek Cole explains why tapping into an existing duct system for a new sunroom fails: the thermostat can't sense the glass room's temperature, diverted airflow makes both the new room and original rooms uncomfortable, and without proper load calculations, you end up with a less comfortable home overall.
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They've had the sunroom and yeah, I just want to tap in a few little runs to my duct system, throw it over here. Miserable. No, not gonna happen. Not gonna be comfortable because now you're building 3 walls of glass. And this lady in particular was, it was on the southwest side of her house and she was like, I'm using my unit. I said, where's your thermostat at? She pointed to the middle of the house where it's supposed to be. There is no way that thermostat can read what's happening in that sunroom.
And what you need to be aware of, most people say, well, if it doesn't work, this addition, I'm fine with it if I'm not comfortable. You're not just going to be not comfortable in that room, it's going to affect the whole house. Because when you take that air off of that duct system to go into that room, you're taking it from somewhere that needs it in the rest of the house. So you're not just going to be affected in that new area, you're going to start suffering in your old part.
Yeah, it's going to— I mean, it affects the whole envelope. What we call the house is the envelope. So it— I mean, there's a cause and effect. It's like taking medication. I mean, yeah, you're, you're curing one thing or you're masking over symptoms, but You could have higher blood pressure, or it could lead to liver problems. You know, there's always a cause and effect. So when you start tapping into existing things and not sizing it properly, you're going to have challenges.
Problems, not challenges. Problems.
Yeah, you're not going to be comfortable. I mean, you're spending that money to add the house, add the room on, and you've turned a comfortable home into the whole house is now uncomfortable. Exactly.