It is not designed for flex.hi all. so after browsing these forums for a week i still couldn't find the exact solution to my ongoing problem. so i figured i'd start a thread.
i'm going to be as detailed as i can.
my house was built in 98. i've lived in it since 05. the house is a single story with 4 bedrooms, 2 bath, garage. its about 1500 sq. ft. located in Phoenix, Arizona. the AC unit is outside and i have an air handler up in the attic. the AC unit was replaced in 04, before i bought the house.
now here's my problem: about half of the registers in my house have poor air flow coming from them with a lot less cooler temperature (in the summers) than the other half. my air handler is situated towards the front of the house (from the garage side). that half of the house has 3 smaller bedrooms and a bathroom. those registers blow very hard with cold air. the rest of the house, as you walk towards the end of it from the garage, has a living room, a kitchen and a master bedroom with its own bathroom and a walk in closet. all those registers blow very poorly and with a lot warmer temps than the ones toward the front of the house.
i had a guy come out a few months back to check my AC unit. they looked at the coil and said it was clean. they cleaned it anyway though just to be sure. they tested the freon pressure and the temp straight out of the AC and said that was all normal. they used a laser to measure the temps coming out of the registers at the front of the house and the temps were normal (i dont remember the exact temps), but the back of the house registers were at least 10 degrees highter (in the 70's somewhere).
the guy said that i most likely have leaking ducts, which i suspected from the beginning. also, the registers have dust trails on them in all rooms, not just the ones that blow poorly. me and him climbed up into the attic to take a look and the crawl space is very, very small. you literally have to crawl on your stomach over the beams and over the loose insulation that covers the entire floor of the attic.
the ducts are not metal like in some homes, but are huge flexible tubes that run all over the attic and really look like a big headache for me to try to do anything with them, let alone try to determine where each one leaks. they looks like tentacles on a kraken for the lack of better explanation.
i have a friend that works for a company that "greens" up the homes. he's a reliable guy and he said that they could Aeroseal my house for $1200.
now, from reading on these forums and researching online, my understanding is that Aeroseal is really ideal for aluminum ducts and not flex ones. please, correct me if i'm wrong. or should i consider replacing the ducts maybe? or maybe its not even the ducts?
with all that said, i would greatly appreciate any suggestions, comments, and/or solutions.
thank you so much!