question on duct wrap in actic

[W1914]

new house being built have two hvac quotes (i sent drawing to 3 hvac company) 2 sent back pricing & discription
contractor a 4 ton w/ 6" flex duct installed
contractor b 3 ton & no spec on duct.
the 3 ton is higher than 4 ton

question is :which one is correct size for house? contractor b said he run loads contractor a did not say.

contractor b seems to be familiar with this type of structure said very tight type of bldg

house discription : 1800 sq ft (36x50x10 4/12 w/36x19' carport on west side 18" overhangs) all steel engineered it has a r10 house wrap ( 3"fiberglass vinyl backing) on roof & walls (metal panel) 6" steel stud walls w r19
8'0 ceiling w/ r30 duct work will be in ceiling
9- low-e windows (2 north side, 1 east side 1 west side 5 south side) will use good doors

[beenthere]

Contractor B is probably correct.

Contractor A is probably guessing.

[sktn77a]

contractor b said he run loads

And I've got some land in Florida you may be interested in.................

So what was your question on the duct wrap?

[W1914]

MY OTHER QUESTION IS DOES IT MATTER HOW DUCT IS DONE AS TO FLEX PIPE OR SOLID WITH INSULATION WRAPPING?

[W1914]

I HAVE FOUND PRICES HERE TO BE COMPATIBLE TO FLORIDA WHO WOULD THINK A DIRTY LITTLE LAKE LIKE EUFAULA IN OKLAHOMA NO DOUBT WOULD BE WORTH SO MUCH

[beenthere]

Don't use all caps.

Its not polite. Thank you.

[W1914]

"sktn77a " you said "Originally Posted by W1914 "contractor b said he run loads

"And I've got some land in Florida you may be interested in................."

from your statment are you saying he may not have run loads & is pricing something to small
you now have me wondering if i should get another contractor to look at it and see who agree's with who i do not want something that will not cool/heat house neither contractor gave model numbers or anything to compare other than size & install
what would you reccommend

[W1914]

sorry i do drafting work and we do all caps didnt mean to affend anyone

[beenthere]

You can do your own Load CALC

[sktn77a]

from your statment are you saying he may not have run loads & is pricing something to small

So few contractors run proper load calcs. Some don't even know what one is (they measure square footage and divide by 600, and think that's a "load calc").

Most new contruction HVAC bids are pretty barebone systems unless you are building a top price custom home. I have no idea what size you need but I'd get a couple additional bides and ask to see the load calculations.

[pstu]

I think this is a system where the homeowner (I am one) is better off going "Cadillac" than lowest bid. The HVAC-CALC software available for $XX from this site, is an excellent way to come pretty close to knowing the size required. People that guess often will oversize because when the system fails to perform, the easy answer is to say it is "undersized". Actually there are a lot of variables besides the gross size of the AC, and if you don't get a well trained HVAC pro, something probably will not work well.

When you get the software, plan on an hour or two keying in dimensions of walls and windows etc. I've licensed it on two separate occasions and it is the best thing available to the homeowner.

Regards -- Pstu

[EugeneTheJeep]

Company b did a heat load calc. 4 ton in an 1800 sq ft house sounds excessive. It will feel like a cold damp cave. I would pick company b, because they are starting off right from the start.

[ACFIXR]

MY OTHER QUESTION IS DOES IT MATTER HOW DUCT IS DONE AS TO FLEX PIPE OR SOLID WITH INSULATION WRAPPING?

Solid pipe out performs flexible ducting as far as air flow goes, its nice and smooth inside. Depending on where it is located you have a number of insulation choices- from R-4.2,R-6 or R-8 being the typical choices. Some localities have minimums dictated by code.