floor or ceiling

[roller]

Is it better to have duct work in the floor or ceiling? The house I am building is a rancher with a full basement in VA.

[dash]

With proper Man. d duct design and placement of the grille,it can perform well either way.

With a basement ,I'd assume the furnace/indoor unit will be in the basement,so I'd have the basement grilles ,if any, in the ceiling and the first floor grilles in the floor.

[mjk_na]

I prefer ceiling :). Well, that's my preference if space permits.

[kelvin]

I prefer the ceiling coz chances are you will obstruct the registers on the floor such as the sofa in the living room or the bed in the bedroom.

[coordinatesales]

For preventing drafts through windows etc duct in the floor is better since the registers are usually put in the floor directly in front of windows. Ducts in the floor also experience less heat loss/gain according to man J.

With that said, I personally prefer the duct in the ceiling. As has already been mentioned, no danger of it getting blocked off by furniture etc and no or less danger of water infiltration and rust as the duct system ages.

[hillbilly tech]

My opion ac works better in the ceiling and heat works better in the floor,heat rises and cold air falls,the perfect system will have ductwork installed in the floor and in the ceiling,but never seen this,but i think it would have to be more effecient.Cost would be too much to do this but would be nice.