When referring to the ventilation aspect of HVAC, do you say “ductwork” or “duct work” when referring to an air duct system in a home or building? Word differences like this one might seem trivial to one. They might also be educational to another.
According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, ductwork (one word) means “ducting” or “a system of ducts.” A duct (as a noun) is defined as “a pipe, tube, or channel that conveys a substance.” Lennox defines ductwork well: “Ductwork refers to the system of ducts (metal or synthetic tubes) used to transport air from heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) equipment throughout your home. Properly installed and well-maintained air ducts are a key component of indoor air quality and home comfort.”
Now that we've distinguished between ductwork and duct work, let's take a deeper look at the latter: duct work (two words).
Many HVAC contractors can overlook the importance of duct work: work performed on ducts. It's one thing to install best-in-class SEER air conditioning units and AFUE furnaces. It's another thing to ensure proper duct performance for distributing conditioned air to the desired rooms/spaces in a home or building.
Duct cleaning and sealing offer tremendous synergies for your business and customers.
As you run your HVAC equipment and conditioned air gets distributed through your ductwork (one word), it's important to clean your ducts to avoid build up of nasty stuff like dust, dirt, and airborne allergens that can get blown into your living spaces.
When installing ductwork (one word), it's important to wrap the ducts with insulation to avoid the conditioned air losing its conditioned temperature due to the external side of ducts being a different temperature than the inside of ducts.
To ensure proper duct performance, it's important to plug any holes/cracks (big and small) in ducts where conditioned air can leak from the ducts before it reaches the desired room/space in a home or building. It also helps keep unconditioned air in attics, crawlspaces, and garages from entering the rooms in a home (or building).