HVAC Guys update 9/21 WTH ???

[mikester]

KInda long but I need some info.
The upstairs of my house had a 2 ton system that was a little over 23 years old.
Last year the drain line got clogged for the first time and I had a bit of water on the floor that dripped into a smoke detector on the main floor. The guy that did the original install had the air handler on 4 2x6s on the flat. No pan underneath. He came over, cleaned the line and recommended I replace the air handler due to its age. It also has a coil for hot water since running baseboards up there would have been a huge pain in the **** since its a finished attic.
This same guy replaced the condenser a few years ago and mismatched it to the 2 ton air handler. He put in a 1 1/2 ton condenser. After he did that the upstairs was never really cool in the hotter Summer months. He was here multiple times, gave as many excuses why. Needless to say I thought he was full of ****. After he recommended replacing bth units I figured I'd get a better well known company to do the work.

Theres a local HVAC company about a 1/4 mile from my house. They have a great reputation. Do a lot of high end homes in the ritzy areas. A few contractors that I know told me theyre top shelf.
A month ago they replaced both units. A Trane condenser. Not sure of the brand for the air handler but it looks identical to the original. They had 5 guys here at 8AM. Im not sure why. The original guy did the job with his son and it took them a day to do the whole thing. Thats including putting all the flex ducts in and running the lines. Basically the new company just switched out the two units. All the lines and electrical were already there. They changed me $10K for this. They were done before noon and the guys sat in three trucks in front of my house bullshitting until almost 4PM.
Nine days later the system shut down due to the drip pan filling up with water. The sensor on the pan picked up the water level and shut it down. They were here the next morning. The guy said the drip line didnt have enough of an angle to drain properly. Keep in mind the original air handler was resting on 2x6s on the flat with no pan. Didnt have an issue for 22 years ! The new one has styrofoam blocks at least 4" high under it. I was arguing with the guy for 10 minutes before he crawled behind the knee wall to see what the hell was wrong. Turned out there was a trap at the end of the drain line. They put a second trap attached to the air handler. NOT the pan. He gut out the one at the end and so far its draining okay. So far.

They also installed a fancy new thermostat. Only issue is its on a wall about 7' away from a vent. The AC would kick on, the cool air would hit the thermostat and it would shut the system down. I think Ive got that fixed. I bought a one direction register and got rid of the two direction. Again, so far its working.

Now the new issue. Since we had a water issue twice up there I put one of those small water alarms in the drip pan. Figured it might be the smart thing to do since I assumed the drip pan should stay dry as long ad the drain lines working right. Sunday night the alarm went off. Theres a small amount of water in the pan. The drain lines okay but the sides of the air handler are wet from condensation. Never had that with the old unit. Guy from the AC company says thats perfectly normal in this heat. Thats what the pans for. Im thinking hes full of ****. What do you guys think ?

 

[bonneyman]

I hate playing phone doctor. Kinda hard to make an accurate diagnosis from far away without a hands-on, visible inspection and testing. But I have some observations.

You should have had a better experience with a top-notch company. Especially with verbal references. Of course every new system has little hiccups - nobody's perfect - but dang if they sat in their trucks for 4 hours the least they could have done is watch the unit run for that time!
Flow testing the drip pan and discovering a shallow drip angle should have been done when re-using existing accessories. The supervisor on the job should have caught the double trapping. The stat being in the line of discharge for a vent will cause short cycling. And condensation on the outsides of the unit means the insulation on the inside of the box is inadequate. The outsides of the coil box should not be getting cold enough to cause condensation. Your old unit was fine - why not the brand new system?

It all sounds like a run-of-the-mill job done by install guys who do it day in and day out. They get paid by the hour, no concern for quality. That's "somebody else's yob!". The owner's name is on every job, his license is on the line. He - or his appointed manager - should come out to every new system and inspect and educate the homeowner. You call nine days later with issues? He should be out there personally then. Excuses don't cut it - an admission of problems and a concrete resolution is needed. Sad to say most A/C companies today just aren't up to snuff. They can't get qualified workers, equipment is designed thin and bare bones, profit seems to be the main goal. I'm hearing it all the time, and not just with A/C jobs.

Sorry for your troubles. It just pains me to hear about the present state of installation and repair.

 

[ratflinger]

And people wonder why I bought a set of gauges and learned how to use them. The AC guys will whine all day about a DIYer, but I'm not out trying to make a living, I know one system, the one I own. I don't go and try to help my neighbors with AC issues, nor am I going to get jacked up by some AC guy whose only claim to fame is a little more training and a business card.

 

[Mike007]

Assuming there's no big air leaks and the cfm is correct, it could be "Normal", unfortunately. Equipment is so cheaply made these days. Some air handlers have minimal insulation.

I replaced my whole system a few years back. I charged it exactly. Set the cfm and balancing exactly. It works great. Sealed and taped everything. My coil door has condensation on it when it's hot and humid. The inside of the door is poorly insulated. If I was motivated I could add insulation to the outside of the door. But I have bigger fish to fry right now.

 

[karoc]

Condensation on outside of cabinet? Sounds like leaking air or insulation is messing inside that cabinet. May also check make sure copper lines don’t have ice on them. Ice build up on evap coil but when it melts not all of it will hit drain pan inside unit

 

[danski0224]

The drain lines okay but the sides of the air handler are wet from condensation. Never had that with the old unit. Guy from the AC company says thats perfectly normal in this heat. Thats what the pans for. Im thinking hes full of ****. What do you guys think ?

It's certainly possible, but I have not seen equipment cabinets condensating, but then again, I do not see too many attic installs.

 

[mikester]

Flow testing the drip pan and discovering a shallow drip angle should have been done when re-using existing accessories. The supervisor on the job should have caught the double trapping.

The drain line and trap is attached to the air handler due to the shallow angle. The installer capped the fitting on the pan. The first time it shut down due to the pan filling to the sensor the tech suggested a condensate pump. I have one for the handler in my basement.
Cant use one in the attic because everything is behind a knee wall. No heat back there. Never had an issue with the system for 23 years. If they put a pump there most likely any left over moisture will freeze and crack the pump over the winter. ****, Im not a tech but even I could figure that out.

 

[bonneyman]

Yeah you gotta watch those unheated spaces! Condensate pumps are a good solution but then you gotta check the pump yearly at the beginning of the season. Always more things to do!

 

[mikester]

Well, this issue is still not close to being resolved.
This afternoon the company sent over a tech to look at the problem.
The air handler was wet top and sides. The tech opened it up and looked at the pan inside. Of course it had some water in it. The drip pan underneath it also has water in it. Tech says it will eventually drain out of the drip pan. Me being a smart *** asks him how that will happen since the drain line doesnt go to the pan, its attached to the air handler. No answer.
The guy blows out the trap. Then he takes two empty CO cartridges and wedges them under the one side of the pan inside of the handler. He goes on to tell me the insulation INSIDE of the handler is soaking wet and he thinks the water in the outside pan is from that dripping out the bottom of the handler past the internal pan.
Then he takes a screwdriver and a pair of pliers and tries to bend the **** out of the area of the pan where the drain line is. I watched this for about five minutes and decided it was enough. Told the guy I wasnt trying to be a **** but he was done. I told him I wasnt going to stand there and watch him bend the piss out of a 7 week old unit that I just paid a lot of money for.
I left him with my wife. Went to the company to talk to the owner or the salesman but both were gone for the day. Im going back tomorrow morning. Im pretty f'n pissed. The tech said the handler isnt high enough. But the previous unit worked fine for 23 years ???? Same size unit. Hell, it might be made by the same manufacturer. They have about 10" to slide it closer to the studs and raise it up as they do. Im sure tomorrow will turn into a **** show. The last tech that came to my house suggested putting a condensate pump inside the drip pan. Im sure that will hold up in that unheated space in the middle of the Winter.

This is just getting worse every time I deal with them.

 

[fitter30]

The insulation in the cabinet isn't thick enough. When dew point is high the cabinet can sweat especially when insulation gets damp then wet. Doors also could be missing insulation and leaking some air. All insulation with age lose R value with age. Safety pan with its own drain and a water alarm that shuts off the ac if water level builds in the emergency pan. New unit ask for the factory service rep. Most branches should have one. Contractor has to ask for one.

 

[karoc]

Another possibility is that pan isn’t draining fast enough and the blower motor is blowing it out pan, I have seen this happen before.

 

[mikester]

The insulation in the cabinet isn't thick enough. When dew point is high the cabinet can sweat especially when insulation gets damp then wet. Doors also could be missing insulation and leaking some air. All insulation with age lose R value with age. Safety pan with its own drain and a water alarm that shuts off the ac if water level builds in the emergency pan. New unit ask for the factory service rep. Most branches should have one. Contractor has to ask for one.

The pan has a water alarm. Its already shut the system off due to the drain line not being set up right. The owner of the business called me at 8AM this morning. He said hes sending his two best installers here tomorrow morning to figure out whats going on. He also told me the air handler was taken apart in their shop because they had to reverse the internals due to the application in my attic. Im thinking thats the issue. Something didnt get put back together correctly.

 

[danski0224]

He also told me the air handler was taken apart in their shop because they had to reverse the internals due to the application in my attic. Im thinking thats the issue.

And there's the rest of the story.

 

[mikester]

Spoke to my neighbors son a few minutes ago. Good kid thats now living down in NC. The whole family moved down there just under 3 years ago. He worked for an HVAC company when he was up here.
He told me that I should have these guys wrap the whole handler with R8 insulation since its in an enclosed area that gets hot as hell. He just did the same thing to his parents newly built home down there due to it being an attic installation. They have soffit and ridge vents and a power gable fan for ventilation but it still needed the extra insulation.
Tomorrow I'll mention this to the guys that will be here. See what they think.

 

[mikester]

It gets more interesting. Called the manufacturer of the handler. Spoke to a VERY helpful tech support guy. He told me since they switched the internals around he thinks that didnt attach something called a drip shroud correctly. He also told me there should be a vent at the P trap. There isnt. Another thing they have to fix.

 

[FredWanaker]

This unit is in the finished attic? First, the humidity has to be high enough in the air to be able to sweat out at the dew point. My first guess is that all the hot humid air in the house is rising into that area. Hot and humid air is lighter than cool dry air so it will rise. Second the system is working better and cooling the house now, right? My guess is that the return air is cold enough to cause the condensation in the warmer humid air of the finished attic. Make sure the returns for the top floors, you should have one on each floor, are working. That way the air going thru the handler is warmer, and the evaporator does the condensing, not the shell of the unit because it is below the dew point. Once that moisture drains away, the dew point will change to where the condensation does not happen. That is my guess. That is based on how you described the issue.

 

[mikester]

This unit is in the finished attic? First, the humidity has to be high enough in the air to be able to sweat out at the dew point. My first guess is that all the hot humid air in the house is rising into that area. Hot and humid air is lighter than cool dry air so it will rise. Second the system is working better and cooling the house now, right? My guess is that the return air is cold enough to cause the condensation in the warmer humid air of the finished attic. Make sure the returns for the top floors, you should have one on each floor, are working. That way the air going thru the handler is warmer, and the evaporator does the condensing, not the shell of the unit because it is below the dew point. Once that moisture drains away, the dew point will change to where the condensation does not happen. That is my guess. That is based on how you described the issue.

Two guys from the company were here at 8AM. The air handler was opened up and inspected. The drip shroud was in place. The one tech poured a half gallon of water in the internal plastic tray. It drained but the guy said it took a bit longer than it should have. The pan was in the housing a bit crooked. Not sure if it came that way or it was due to the hack that came over the other day.
He got the pan situated in the housing correctly. Still drained a bit slow. After checking it with a level both guys felt that it needed to be raised and angled more towards the pan drain. Didnt take much shimming. Looks like the pitch is better since the water drains much faster.
The one guy also put a piece of PVC on the low side of the P trap tee as a vent. Not sure what made the most difference but the waters trickling out of the drain instead of dripping. Looks like they might have fixed it. The one guy told me to leave the fan on for at least 2-3 days to dry out the insulation.
They told me to keep watching the metal drip pan to see how much water is in it by the beginning of next week. If theres a problem they'll be back. What a pain in the ***.

 

[karoc]

I’m sure they know lost you as customer but at least they stayed with it.

 

[mikester]

I’m sure they know lost you as customer but at least they stayed with it.

Oh yeah, Im done with them. Ive been telling everyone I know what happened. Yes theyve attempted to make it right but Im not really sure if they did. Im constantly checking the pan for water. At the end of the week Im taking the covers off and checking the insulation inside to see if its dry. Im worried about black mold.

 

[Jim greengo]

KInda long but I need some info.
The upstairs of my house had a 2 ton system that was a little over 23 years old.
Last year the drain line got clogged for the first time and I had a bit of water on the floor that dripped into a smoke detector on the main floor. The guy that did the original install had the air handler on 4 2x6s on the flat. No pan underneath. He came over, cleaned the line and recommended I replace the air handler due to its age. It also has a coil for hot water since running baseboards up there would have been a huge pain in the **** since its a finished attic.
This same guy replaced the condenser a few years ago and mismatched it to the 2 ton air handler. He put in a 1 1/2 ton condenser. After he did that the upstairs was never really cool in the hotter Summer months. He was here multiple times, gave as many excuses why. Needless to say I thought he was full of ****. After he recommended replacing bth units I figured I'd get a better well known company to do the work.

Theres a local HVAC company about a 1/4 mile from my house. They have a great reputation. Do a lot of high end homes in the ritzy areas. A few contractors that I know told me theyre top shelf.
A month ago they replaced both units. A Trane condenser. Not sure of the brand for the air handler but it looks identical to the original. They had 5 guys here at 8AM. Im not sure why. The original guy did the job with his son and it took them a day to do the whole thing. Thats including putting all the flex ducts in and running the lines. Basically the new company just switched out the two units. All the lines and electrical were already there. They changed me $10K for this. They were done before noon and the guys sat in three trucks in front of my house bullshitting until almost 4PM.
Nine days later the system shut down due to the drip pan filling up with water. The sensor on the pan picked up the water level and shut it down. They were here the next morning. The guy said the drip line didnt have enough of an angle to drain properly. Keep in mind the original air handler was resting on 2x6s on the flat with no pan. Didnt have an issue for 22 years ! The new one has styrofoam blocks at least 4" high under it. I was arguing with the guy for 10 minutes before he crawled behind the knee wall to see what the hell was wrong. Turned out there was a trap at the end of the drain line. They put a second trap attached to the air handler. NOT the pan. He gut out the one at the end and so far its draining okay. So far.

They also installed a fancy new thermostat. Only issue is its on a wall about 7' away from a vent. The AC would kick on, the cool air would hit the thermostat and it would shut the system down. I think Ive got that fixed. I bought a one direction register and got rid of the two direction. Again, so far its working.

Now the new issue. Since we had a water issue twice up there I put one of those small water alarms in the drip pan. Figured it might be the smart thing to do since I assumed the drip pan should stay dry as long ad the drain lines working right. Sunday night the alarm went off. Theres a small amount of water in the pan. The drain lines okay but the sides of the air handler are wet from condensation. Never had that with the old unit. Guy from the AC company says thats perfectly normal in this heat. Thats what the pans for. Im thinking hes full of ****. What do you guys think ?

1 1/2t and 2t coils are normally the same as long as seer rating is same,just differant piston is all.

 

[mikester]

Well, its been almost a month since my last post and sadly this still isnt fixed.
Last Wednesday I took the side cover off the air handler. The insulation inside the unit on the bottom is soaking wet. Theres rust along the edge of the cover. Rust stains in the metal drip pan from where its dripping at the screw holes. Maybe Im being too picky but Im kinda pissed since the units only 3 months old. What will it look like in a few years ? The old unit was 23 years old. Never had these issues.
When Im done writing this Im going to post a few pictures. The original setup and what it looks like now. You folks be the judge. Is it me or are these guys hacks ?
When the salesman came over to give me the estimate I told him I wasnt sure if I should wait to have the job done since I was also having the siding redone. He told me it wouldnt be an issue. They would sent a guy over to disconnect the two condensers and hook them back up when the job was done. They do it all the time. Costs a "few hundred dollars". Im old school I guess. Couple of hundred is $200. A few hundred is 3 or $400. When I called the office to see how much time they would need in advance the new price was $1600. I guess they need to make up for the amount of time their guys had to come back. Called another HVAC comapany and got a price of $545.

Last Wednesday afternoon I went over to talk to the salesman. Took the pictures with me. I told the guy that I wasnt satisfied with the job. The soaking wet insulation was the major issue. Especially since I spoke to the manufacturer again and the tech there said it should be bone dry. Torn up insulation, sloppy wiring. They had 5 guys at my house at 8:15AM. The two units were hooked up before 11 and all the guys sat in their trucks in front of my house until almost 4PM.
While I was showing the guy the pictures I also pointed out how their installers damaged the insulation between multiple rafters. Wasnt like that after the first install. The guy wasnt too happy that I brought that up. He was pissed that I called the manufacturer again. I told him they have a one year warranty on their installations. He needs to make this right. My whole wall is still open. I dont want to start putting everything back together if the stupid thing isnt fixed.

This is the original setup. No metal drip pan but not a single problem in the first 22 years.




The new one.











I guess they couldnt get the screw back in. SMH




Rust along the edge of the cover. At 3 months ? Honestly, am I too picky ? This was $10K.

 

[yelchevelle]

And people wonder why I bought a set of gauges and learned how to use them. The AC guys will whine all day about a DIYer, but I'm not out trying to make a living, I know one system, the one I own. I don't go and try to help my neighbors with AC issues, nor am I going to get jacked up by some AC guy whose only claim to fame is a little more training and a business card.

Reading this makes me so glad I did my own last fall. My brother did most of the technical installation stuff (I was the helper) because he worked as a technician for a few years between high school and military. I studied up on correct installation, and I am 100% happy with it. It runs so much better than before and also better than the other unit in my house. Your experience mirrors my past experience with hvac guys. I swear there are 3-5 bad techs for every good one. I guess that’s about like everyone now. I hate industries that are so guarded too.

 

[danski0224]

Which side is the supply discharge in the top picture?

 

[mikester]

Which side is the supply discharge in the top picture?

Pretty sure the coil for the heat is on the left side. Refrigerant is on the right.

 

[danski0224]

Does the fan pull through the refrigerant coil? Airflow left to right?

 

[mikester]

Does the fan pull through the refrigerant coil? Airflow left to right?

Not really sure but the returns on the right side. Not an HVAC guy.

 

[danski0224]

There's a big hole around the condensate drain connection. I'd get some putty and seal it up. That might be enough to keep it from draining properly.

Looks like a big stick of butter, sold as electrical duct sealer at the box stores.

Condensate P trap may not be deep enough. The required dimensions should be in the instructions.

Other than the obvious of making sure that the unit is pitched towards the drain (L to R and front to back); and that the drain is connected to the correct opening.

 

[PoorUB]

Which side is the supply discharge in the top picture?

That AHU flows right to left. Pretty easy to see that, plus I have never seen a residential AHU that flows air return/fan/A-coil/supply. Everyone I have seen are return/A-coil/fan/supply. You get better air distribution on a A-coil on draw through over blow throung.

 

[danski0224]

I don't deal with many air handlers.

 

[American Locomotive]

Does your country/whatever have code enforcement and require contractors to be registered?

 

[mikester]

There's a big hole around the condensate drain connection. I'd get some putty and seal it up. That might be enough to keep it from draining properly.

Looks like a big stick of butter, sold as electrical duct sealer at the box stores.

Condensate P trap may not be deep enough. The required dimensions should be in the instructions.

Other than the obvious of making sure that the unit is pitched towards the drain (L to R and front to back); and that the drain is connected to the correct opening.

To be honest I dont think its a drainage issue. The last time they were here they raised the left side and right rear a good 1/2". When I opened the side the drain pan in the unit had a small amount of water at the drain line opening. Right now I have a 5 gallon bucket at the end and it looks like its draining pretty good. Buckets collecting a good amount of water each day. Once they removed the second P trap that seemed to take care of the flow problem. They also put a vent at the trap the last time they were here as per the manufacturers installation instructions.

 

[mikester]

Does your country/whatever have code enforcement and require contractors to be registered?

Already called the local county. They have a license and so far no complaints against them. My wife spoke to the guy at the complaint line. We have a few options. Once the county gets involved they assign a mediator. The mediator calls the contractor. They can fix the issue. If it still isnt fixed, we can have a second contractor come over and attempt to repair it. If thats successful the original contractor will have to pay the bill. Hoping it doesnt come to that since its a local guy. This craps causing a lot of stress in my house. I want to get the wall back together, trim done and paint and carpet. This area is pretty much where my daughter lives. Her bedroom, her bathroom and the little area in between is where her desk sits. Its been torn up since this started in June.

 

[Jim greengo]

Reminds me of a hack job I got called out to a couple weeks ago.

 

[Mike007]

To me, this is how an air handler should be sealed. Can't see it in the pic, but the horizontal door lengths are taped also.

 

[SVibs]

Well, its been almost a month since my last post and sadly this still isnt fixed.
Last Wednesday I took the side cover off the air handler. The insulation inside the unit on the bottom is soaking wet. Theres rust along the edge of the cover. Rust stains in the metal drip pan from where its dripping at the screw holes. Maybe Im being too picky but Im kinda pissed since the units only 3 months old. What will it look like in a few years ? The old unit was 23 years old. Never had these issues.
When Im done writing this Im going to post a few pictures. The original setup and what it looks like now. You folks be the judge. Is it me or are these guys hacks ?
When the salesman came over to give me the estimate I told him I wasnt sure if I should wait to have the job done since I was also having the siding redone. He told me it wouldnt be an issue. They would sent a guy over to disconnect the two condensers and hook them back up when the job was done. They do it all the time. Costs a "few hundred dollars". Im old school I guess. Couple of hundred is $200. A few hundred is 3 or $400. When I called the office to see how much time they would need in advance the new price was $1600. I guess they need to make up for the amount of time their guys had to come back. Called another HVAC comapany and got a price of $545.

Last Wednesday afternoon I went over to talk to the salesman. Took the pictures with me. I told the guy that I wasnt satisfied with the job. The soaking wet insulation was the major issue. Especially since I spoke to the manufacturer again and the tech there said it should be bone dry. Torn up insulation, sloppy wiring. They had 5 guys at my house at 8:15AM. The two units were hooked up before 11 and all the guys sat in their trucks in front of my house until almost 4PM.
While I was showing the guy the pictures I also pointed out how their installers damaged the insulation between multiple rafters. Wasnt like that after the first install. The guy wasnt too happy that I brought that up. He was pissed that I called the manufacturer again. I told him they have a one year warranty on their installations. He needs to make this right. My whole wall is still open. I dont want to start putting everything back together if the stupid thing isnt fixed.

This is the original setup. No metal drip pan but not a single problem in the first 22 years.




The new one.











I guess they couldnt get the screw back in. SMH




Rust along the edge of the cover. At 3 months ? Honestly, am I too picky ? This was $10K.

Yikes. I'd be pissed as well. Nothing about this installation shows care or workmanship. The tstat wiring, the line set insulation, the fiberglass insulation damage in the rafter bays are all "I don't give a $@#%" indicators. I assume the owner has seen the work and hasn't offered to clean it up? If he hasn't seen it, take some pics send them to him and let him know you'll be filing a BBB complaint along with a 1 star Yelp review, posting pictures on social media, etc. If nothing else, he'll have to deal with responding to the BBB complaint and offering some sort of resolution. If he doesn't care, local guy or not, I wouldn't hesitate to get a mediator involved.

 

[danski0224]

To me, this is how an air handler should be sealed. Can't see it in the pic, but the horizontal door lengths are taped also.

So, what good is accomplished with all of the tape on the doors?

If only the same effort was applied to that 180 degree turn on the supply side. That's an easy 240 equivalent feet of ductwork.

 

[danski0224]

To be honest I dont think its a drainage issue. The last time they were here they raised the left side and right rear a good 1/2". When I opened the side the drain pan in the unit had a small amount of water at the drain line opening. Right now I have a 5 gallon bucket at the end and it looks like its draining pretty good. Buckets collecting a good amount of water each day. Once they removed the second P trap that seemed to take care of the flow problem. They also put a vent at the trap the last time they were here as per the manufacturers installation instructions.

I'd still seal the opening around the drain connection. It could be allowing enough air in to mess with the condensate flow.

It's easy enough and cheap enough and requires very little effort to test.

If the fan is different between the old and new, water might be being pulled off of the coil. You should be able to drop the fan speed by 1 setting and see if there's a change. There is a risk of freezing the evaporator coil if the airflow is too low.

If the wrong size unit is installed and the default fan speed is too high, that's going to pull water off of the coil on larger units.

Has the internal drain pan been inspected very carefully for cracks or damage? Put a hose in there and fill the pan and check?

Obviously something is dumping a bunch of water.

 

[Mike007]

So, what good is accomplished with all of the tape on the doors?

If only the same effort was applied to that 180 degree turn on the supply side. That's an easy 240 equivalent feet of ductwork.

That's not the supply duct.

 

[danski0224]

That's not the supply duct.

Same principle whether it's supply or return.

 

[Mike007]

Same principle whether it's supply or return.

I don't think you know what you're looking at. The return is on the right.