HEATING & AIR CONDITIONING                 After the electrician and plumbing contractors have finished their rough-ins, the heat/air contractor should be scheduled. Most of the ductwork will run under your subfloor with the necessary second floor runs being located behind studwalls upstairs.  A good place to run the main trunk lines and returns to the upstairs is in the back of closets or utility rooms.  Once the lines are upstairs, individual supply ducts can be run in studwalls and other hidden areas.  The best place for this ductwork is behind the upstairs “knee walls.”  Knee walls upstairs are those constructed from the floor to the ceiling where the ceiling headroom is reduced to 5-1/2 feet or so due to the roof pitch.  You will notice on the second floor plan that dotted lines or walls are drawn where headroom decreases to under six feet to the downward slope of the roof.  It is good to build studwalls here and to run necessary duct work behind the wall.                 For homes with conventional roofs or one-story homes, the ductwork will run like a conventional home, within the truss work or the conventional roof framing cavities.                 Think about your placement of furniture, rugs, etc. when your contractor is planning his outlet and air return locations.  Most importantly, get involved with the heat/air contractor to make sure he understands that you want to hide as much of the ductwork as possible.  Try to steer away from the contractor recommending extra walls and chases to be built to hide duct work.  Any extra construction needed will add extra costs.  If you need help in deciding where to run the ductwork, do not hesitate to call us at 1-800-251-9218.                 Normally, a heat/air contractor will estimate the job based on tonnage of the heat pump required to efficiently heat and cool your home.  The amount of tons needed depends on the house size.  Generally, a ton will serve about 600 square feet.  For example, 2400 square feet would take about a 4-ton unit.  Leave the estimating to the professionals, because they will figure what will efficiently do the job.  A high efficiency unit, labor and materials and all duct work in Tennessee is usually $1,000 - $1,600/per ton.  So in our example, the 2400-square-foot home would cost about (4x$1,000 - $1,600) or about $4,000 - $6,400.  Prices will vary with equipment, brand, warranty and efficiency chosen for your home.

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