Thread: cut duct boxes

I took these pictures in an attic today. 1998 construction. There are holes cut in the tops of the duct boxes.

The HVAC system is now pumping conditioned air directly into the attic. It pumps heat up there in the winter and cool in the summer.

I have not seen this done before. Is there a good reason why this was done or is it some kind of wacky idea or screw up?

To put it shortly....why? Why would you want to waste money trying to condition the attic space?

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I'm guessing the last HVAC duct person had to go into those and do some work, and then forgot to tape the piece they cut out back in.

What a waste of energy all these years.

I'll bet their heating and cooling bills where sky high and they never knew why.

For things like, I'd want to find out who last worked on the duct and when, then then back bill them for all that wasted money.

Most likely the last home owner that lost the house due to divorce.

The ducts are clearly outside the conditioned space, so the homeowner is trying to condition the outdoors.

We are indebted to you for finding this crime against nature. The good news is that you have located the real cause of global warming, so we can all breathe a sigh of relief and get back to business as usual.

Or foreclosure "retaliation", no reason whatsoever to have a hole.

Maybe that is where they pulled the dead rodent out from. Exterminators normally don't do repair work.

rick

Perhaps the folks wanted an easy way to rid their roof of snow and ice dams. What was the condition of the insulation & ventilation at the eves? Any ole which way, it was not an intelligent move.

Jerry-

You are correct. I am the owner and had no idea why my utility bills were so high. I've owned the home since it was built and I've had several HVAC people in over the years. Since I have no way of knowing who might have created this problem, how would you recommend I try to narrow it down and "back bill" the perpetrator?

Dave

Send all that have had access the bill. One of them probably knows he did it and my pay. Who knows.

That should read "may" pay. Sorry for the type'o.

David,

I told you about the heaps of knowledge one can find at this forum. However, I forgot to tell you about the colorful side of the personalities. Sorry about that.

Originally Posted by David McIntosh

Jerry-

You are correct. I am the owner and had no idea why my utility bills were so high. I've owned the home since it was built and I've had several HVAC people in over the years. Since I have no way of knowing who might have created this problem, how would you recommend I try to narrow it down and "back bill" the perpetrator?

Dave

As Chuck said: send a bill to every HVAC company *who has been in the attic*, if they were not in the attic then they could not have done that.

Did you have a dispute with one about some work and made them come back out and correct it? If so, I would seriously consider them as target #1 as they may has said "I'll get even with that so-and-so."

Any of them go up in the attic to do work on the ducts? Definitely high on the list.

Originally Posted by David McIntosh

Jerry-

You are correct. I am the owner and had no idea why my utility bills were so high. I've owned the home since it was built and I've had several HVAC people in over the years. Since I have no way of knowing who might have created this problem, how would you recommend I try to narrow it down and "back bill" the perpetrator?

Dave

Good Luck on trying to collect any money from any of these HVAC companies.

Just with the comment of you said of "I have no way of knowing who might have created this problem" is exactly why your not going to collect a single buck from those guys.

Sorry, its just not going to happen. No one wins at the blame game. You can fight the fight if you choose.

I'd seal up the duct and move on. Save yourself the grief.

Just my opinion.

rick

Thanks everyone for the input. I'm having it fixed today, so even if I never am able to collect from an HVAC company, at least I don't have to worry about the problem. A big thanks to John Dirks for finding the problem and directing me to this site.

You are welcome Dave. It was a pleasure working for you.

I second the motion and thank the members here too.

If it was me I would start looking at all the old bills and see when the bill spiked up. Then look to see who worked on the system at that time.

I think Rick did it! His post makes him look guilty