mobile home

[hillbilly in tenn]

i live in a double wide mobile home and the duct work stinks. some vents blow out good and others have hardly any air coming out at all. now my question is should i replace the duct work or buy a new unit with a varible speed motor and run the fan all the time. my instructor told me the the varible speed running all the time would not use much power and would even out the house. i have read on this site for some time now and have gotten some good ideas, so i thought i would see what u guys think.

[dhvac]

Well mobile homes are not known for having god ductwork you will either have very thin very cheap metal (more like aluminum foil) or you will have duct board
Neither will be sized for your floor plan
If you are not going to replace it at least check it all over and make sure that there are no holes and that it is not crushed also check your crossover ducts to make sure they are unrestricted
As for the variable speed furnace some of the motors only use as much power as a light bulb I don’t know what you definition of a lot of power is but I do not think it is bad

[dash]

The more restricted your duct system is the more wattage a VS will draw,always best to use lower speed/cfms if running it 24/7.

Tell us more about your duct system ,so we can ,talk about what might need to be done.

Type duct,location floor or ceiling,crossover used,size ducts ,type of heating and cooling,model numbers,etc.??


To get more specific answers start a thread in the Pro section.

[big game james]

ive had some experience in this department.. but what the hell is a verriable speed motor gonna do for you? your gonna burn the motor out there not designed to over come thge static differential eventhough they will try. if your gonna do anythingget some new flex and re do the duct work. thats a relitively cheep fix. the duct that they use on those trailers sucks its more like a beer can than duct. but you can also look at it like this you live in a trailer and thats just life....and just adjust the ven5ts to trey to force air to were you need it . check for4 leaks in the duct good luck.

[r22jjc]

is that a coleman furnace with side wall registers?

[appltech1]

you're probably heating the under side of your home. something has eaten a hole in the crossover or it has made a bed out of it. Take a closer look.

[contactor]

I agree with appletech. Check the ductwork 1st. especially crossovers!

[hillbilly in tenn]

i know the duct work stinks like someone said its made out of beer cans. thats why i want to replace it. i cant remember the brand of furnance right off hand this morning but i will look tonight and also measure the trunk lines and crossovers. i had to seal were the crossovers meet just after i had it set up. air was blowing out everywhere so i know those joints are tight. i just felt like new duct work would be the best way to make the system work right. it was a repo when i bought it and got a deal on it so i can afford to spend a little on it i was thinking of replacing the unit this summer and size everything so i can get the most out of it. i really appreciate your comments and will chat with you all in the morning.

[propmanage]

Run all new sheet metal duct and insulate it ,add dampers so you can balance it ,and then if you think you need a new unit just get one.

[dash]

Post the duct sizes,etc..

I haven't found one yet that can't be corrected ,and that's without repolacing the ducts.