We're into the sheet metal ductwork. This is kinda new for me, so it's movin' kinda slow. This, plus most of the work is 9-1/2 feet overhead and executed from atop a ladder. - The plan from the beginning was to use the factory cutouts in the engineered I-joists to run the main trunk line. We loosely installed all the pieces for an 18" x 8" main trunk down the center of the building when we installed the I-joists. - (flashback) - Now, all these months later, it's time to start snapping, assembling, and cutting sheet metal to make it all work. We continue to stay focused on all the work that is in the ceiling of the shop area so we can insulate and drywall that zone and use it for living space. When we get this phase completed, we can move in and keep on rolling to finish the rest of structure. - The shop ceiling area houses 5 vent feeds upstairs and 4 more ceiling registers that will feed down into the shop. It also has the downdraft vent for the kitchen island cooktop, but that run was installed a couple weeks ago. We have most all of it laid out and ready to make final connections. Then, the whole mess has to line up with the take offs that run over and down into the mechanical room to hook up with the furnace (yes, I said furnace; see the notes at the bottom of this post).
- - - - We have chosen to use baseboard registers. (pic taken upstairs) - - The only registers that won't be baseboard are the toe-kick registers (kitchen sink area and 2 bath vanities) - - This last shot is the biggest pain we have to deal with. We managed to install the 2 takeoffs into the main trunk last week (left 2 bays as we look up to the ceiling of the mechanical room). These 2 feeds into the main trunk will have ducts run toward the mech room and sent down to the furnace. The third bay on the right will be the cold air return, soon to be assembled/installed. It's all gonna be pretty tight and crammed in there; I have my fingers crossed.
I did say furnace. My original plan was to use geothermal for this structure. I have fussed, fought, and ran the numbers and geothermal gets nixed. I all comes down to economics. Most of the decision comes as a result of knowing that this is a part time home. When we are not there, nothing will be used. Payback would likely occur far too many years down the road. There are a number of other issues that point us in the same direction. The good news is that I have a pal in the trades and he is not only helping me with the calculations and sizing of the ductwork, but he will get me into the high efficiency furnace and central air at wholesale costs.
