What is an air duct follower. It is a follower that is positioned in the ductwork in your house to relocate air from one part of your home to an additional. Why did we add an air duct fan inside the ductwork in our residence? It is since we have a second flooring that includes a workplace, a restroom and also what we call the craft space. Our air conditioner device simply could not obtain sufficient air to the upstairs. Throughout the summertime, it was constantly too warm as well as during the cold weather it was always also chilly.

The brand-new HEATING AND COOLING system we had actually installed in our house last year was supposed to be huge enough to heat as well as cool down the whole home. The issue ended up that when your home was developed, the initial specialist made some obvious mistakes.

We had air ducts that did not go anywhere and/or were not sized appropriately for the air flow needed. When the brand-new air conditioner was put in, that was all dealt with except for the air duct mosting likely to the 2nd flooring.

We evaluated our alternatives as well as made a decision to put in a duct follower and right here is just how I installed it.

I reduced open the supply air duct before it entered into a supply distribution box. The circulation box supplied our upstairs registers. Our duct was 12 inches, so placing a 12 inch follower was not a big deal.

I after that cut into the flex air duct and pulled the Mylar and also fiberglass material back.

I checked for the air flow instructions arrow on the side of the follower to ensure I did not have the follower dealing with the wrong direction. Then I put the it.

The air duct fan itself is just a tough galvanized steel tube with the fan placed in it and two cables socializing with a plastic grommet. I installed a conventional steel electric box to the side of the follower housing that will enable me to link all wiring in a secured room. I actually hate to see wires loosened and also just linked with each other. Likewise, the National Electrical Code needs it.

The following step is to reattach the supply air duct to the fan. Once again glide the Mylar lining over the beyond the fan housing and tape it utilizing Foil Sealant tape, mastic tape or butyl tape. All these tapes are a steel dealt with tape with a soft foam lining to seal the tape to the air duct. It is truly sticky things as well as it works great! Make sure you secure whatever as you do not desire any type of air leakages.

Then cover the entire setting up with more duct insulation to maintain all air travelling through the air ducts as well as not dripping out. If any air leakages out, you can have condensation outside of the follower housing. This water can leak down and wreck your ceiling. I utilize foil tape with a fiberglass enhanced lining. I likewise utilize an aluminum foil tape for sealing joints and seams against dampness and vapor on foil jacket insulation.

Never ever make use of the gray cloth tape as it is not rated for this type of use.

After the electric work is completed, the last remaining item of insulation will certainly be sealed around the fan.

As a momentary action to see if every little thing worked, I wired the follower electric motor to an extension cord as well as connected it in. Immediately, there was amazing air in the workplace area. Within the hour, the temperature was the same on both floors.

Now, to make it irreversible, I installed a 4×4 electric box. It was outfitted with an auto/manual override button and a variable rate electric motor control.

An air pressure button was mounted in the riser duct to automatically transform the follower on or off when the air conditioning unit turns on as well as off downstairs. The objective is to have completely automatic activity with very little electrical use according to an ac repair service.

The total cost to install the duct fan and also the controls were less than $200.