CA2438154A1 - Heating, venting and air conditioning (hvac) system for manufactured houses - Google Patents

Heating, venting and air conditioning (hvac) system for manufactured houses Download PDF

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Publication number
CA2438154A1
CA2438154A1 CA002438154A CA2438154A CA2438154A1 CA 2438154 A1 CA2438154 A1 CA 2438154A1 CA 002438154 A CA002438154 A CA 002438154A CA 2438154 A CA2438154 A CA 2438154A CA 2438154 A1 CA2438154 A1 CA 2438154A1
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CA
Canada
Prior art keywords
house
air
source
network according
medium
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Abandoned
Application number
CA002438154A
Other languages
French (fr)
Inventor
Mitchell Walter
Peter Gilgan
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Mattamy Corp
Original Assignee
Mattamy Corp
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Mattamy Corp filed Critical Mattamy Corp
Priority to CA002438154A priority Critical patent/CA2438154A1/en
Publication of CA2438154A1 publication Critical patent/CA2438154A1/en
Abandoned legal-status Critical Current

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Classifications

    • FMECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
    • F24HEATING; RANGES; VENTILATING
    • F24FAIR-CONDITIONING; AIR-HUMIDIFICATION; VENTILATION; USE OF AIR CURRENTS FOR SCREENING
    • F24F3/00Air-conditioning systems in which conditioned primary air is supplied from one or more central stations to distributing units in the rooms or spaces where it may receive secondary treatment; Apparatus specially designed for such systems
    • F24F3/044Systems in which all treatment is given in the central station, i.e. all-air systems
    • F24F3/048Systems in which all treatment is given in the central station, i.e. all-air systems with temperature control at constant rate of air-flow
    • F24F3/052Multiple duct systems, e.g. systems in which hot and cold air are supplied by separate circuits from the central station to mixing chambers in the spaces to be conditioned
    • FMECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
    • F24HEATING; RANGES; VENTILATING
    • F24FAIR-CONDITIONING; AIR-HUMIDIFICATION; VENTILATION; USE OF AIR CURRENTS FOR SCREENING
    • F24F13/00Details common to, or for air-conditioning, air-humidification, ventilation or use of air currents for screening
    • F24F13/02Ducting arrangements

Abstract

A multi-level manufactured house is provided with a modified HVAC network. The network is connected to a source of ventilating, heating or cooling air, for example a forced air furnace, and includes at least one manifold disposed above the first story floor, while the conventional basement-level manifolds are eliminated. This provision offers building material savings, and may reduce modification of existing structural elements of the house.

Description

HEATING, VENTING AND AIR CONDITIONING (HVAC) SYSTEM FOR
MANUFACTURED HOUSES
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to heating, venting and air conditioning (HVAC) distribution networks for houses, including manufactured houses and to methods for manufacturing such networks.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART
Definitions:
"Ductwork" or "ducts" used herein denotes a plurality of air ducts or conduits by which air may be transferred from one location to another.
"Story" is any user occupiable level of a house, not including basements or crawlspaces (the basement level and crawlspace level being referred to herein as the "basement").
"HVAC" is a collective term for heating, ventilating and/or air-conditioning system.
"Manifold" is a collector and/or distributor conduit or chamber, having a plurality of inlets and/or outlets, totaling more than two, for collecting or distributing air between a source and one or more predetermined locations in the house or its vicinity.
The manufacturing of completed or partially completed houses (both of which are referred to herein as "manufactured houses") within a factory for subsequent transport to the installation location of the manufactured house, for example in a subdivision, is well-known. When compared to outdoor stick building, manufacturing houses within a factory provides numerous advantages, including the improved ability to work at all hours of the day and without concern for weather, and providing greater worker safety and comfort and improved efficiency in use of material, energy and equipment.
Page 1 of 10 In the case of manufactured houses that are to be heated, cooled and/or ventilated by means of, for example, a forced air system, including a furnace, air conditioner or heat exchanger (e.g. a heat pump), a large number of ducts and/or conduits must be installed to provide ventilating, cooling or heating to various rooms and locations of the manufactured house. The ducts or conduits are either installed in the factory or after the house has been placed upon its foundation in the subdivision, or a combination or both. The ducts and conduits conventionally pass through the basement ceiling and within the interior walls of the manufactured house.
By way of example, a conventional manufactured house, having one or more storeys, (which, when the manufactured house has been installed on a foundation, the now enclosed foundation forms the basement of the manufactured house), may be built in a factory with the duct work pre-installed in the factory, the furnace, air conditioning unit, and manifolds being installed and connected to the pre-installed ductwork after the manufactured house is fully installed on the foundation. In this example, once the house has been transported to the site and placed upon its foundation, the furnace and air conditioner and the manifolds rnay be installed to connect the furnace and other HVAC
units as applicable, to the pre-installed ductwork.
Conventionally, the furnace and air-conditioning unit are placed in the basement and the air distribution and collection manifolds are placed below the ceiling of the basement i.e.
directly below and adjacent the first story floor. Individual hot air/cold air and return ducts extending to separate locations of the house are then connected to these air distribution and collection manifolds.
As a result, a large number of ducts pass through the basement ceiling and the interior walls of the manufactured house to provide ventilating, or hot or cold air to the first and second storeys and to provide a passageway for return air from the first and second storeys.
This design is labor intensive, lacks efficiency of building material usage and usually requires modification or cutting of existing structural elements of the house, or elaborate "work grounds" to provide a passage for the ducts.
Page 2 of 10 It will also be noted that in a typical house, the basement requires the least amount of heating, and yet the furnace is often situated in the baserrient, at a relatively long distance from the locations to be heated. Furthermore; where physically possible, it is generally advantageous to provide larger duct passageways rather than a larger number of smaller passageways to move the same volume of air, the larger ducts providing relatively reduced friction when compared to smaller volume passageways. Furthermore, when comparing larger volume ducts to a volume equivalent number of smaller ducts, the reduced friction of larger volume ducts generally results in reduced air flow noise, and reduced heat (or cold, in the case of air conditioning) losses through the duct, the heat (or cold) losses being proportional to the total surface area of the duct (a large duct having less total surface area than a volume equivalent number of smaller ducts).
There is additionally an ongoing demand to reduce the material usage cost and timeframe of building manufactured houses.
SLJIvIMARY OF THE INVENTION
In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, there is provided, an air distribution network in a house having or defining at least one story, the story defining a floor, and having a source of a heated, vented or aar-conditioned air. The air distribution network is connected to the source and comprises at least one air distribution manifold disposed above the floor of the first story of the house. The network also comprises a plurality of ducts connected to the manifold and extending to various locations of the house for moving the air between the source and the various locations.
Advantageously, the present invention significantly reduces the amount of labor and in particular on-site labor required to install central heating and air-conditioning network in a house, specifically in a manufactured house.
It is a further advantage of the present invention that it reduces the need to cut into or through or modify existing structural or other elements of the house during the installation of the network.
Page 3 of 10 It is a further advantage of the present invention that it can yield additional headroom in the basement of the house.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
A preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described in more detail by way of the following description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which like numerals correspond to like elements and in which:
Figure 1 is a simplified cross-sectional representation of a prior art manufactured house illustrating a HVAC network;
Figure 2a is a simplified cross-sectional representation of a manufactured house with a HVAC network according to one embodiment of the present invention;
Figure 2b is a simplified cross-sectional representation of a manufactured house with a HVAC network according to an alternative embodiment of the present invention;
Figure 3 is a simplified cross-sectional representation of a manufactured house with a HVAC network according to an alternative embodiment of the present invention:
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Referring to Figure I, a typical conventional house is shown as having two stories on three levels - a basement, a first story level and a second story level. This arrangement corresponds to a "two-storey house" in everyday language, it being understood however, that in some jurisdictions, some one story and two story houses have no basements.
As illustrated in Figure 1, the house has a basement floor 10, a first story floor 12, a second story floor 14 and a second story ceiling 16. Other structural elements of the house Page 4 of 10 CA 02438154 2003-08-25 _.._ (walls, joists etc) are omitted for clarity. The house is equipped with a forced-air heating and distribution system. Generally; the system includes a source of heated air, a furnace 18, a hot-air subsystem and a cold-air subsystem which deal respectively with the distribution of forced hot air from the furnace 18 and the return of cold air to the furnace.
In Figures 1, 2a and 2b, the furnace is located on the basement floor. In Figure 3, the furnace is disposed on the first story floor, for reasons discussed herein.
As illustrated in Figure 1, the hot-air subsystem forms an air distribution network. It includes a hot-air manifold 20 connected to the furnace 18 typically through a plenum 22.
The manifold 20 is typically situated between joists (not illustrated) of the first story floor 12. A plurality of hot-air ducts 24, 26, 28, and 30 is connected to the manifold 20 such that when the manifold 20 receives forced hot air from the furnace 18; the air is in turn distributed to appropriate locations of the house. The distribution of air is controlled by means well known in the art and typically passes through vents 42 located in the floors, walls and/or ceiling of the rooms of the house.
As illustrated in Figure 1, the cold-air subsystem forms an air return network. It includes a cold air manifold 31 connected to the furnace 18; typically via a vertical conduit (riser) 29.
The cold air manifold 31 in turn branches into a plurality of return ducts 34, 3638, and 40 for carrying cooled air back into the furnace for re-heating.
It is understood that the same or additional ductwork may also be connected to an air conditioning unit (not illustrated) in an analogous manner known to a person skilled in the art to provide cooled air to the house.
Referring to Figure 2a, it will be noted that the furnace 18 is disposed on the basement floor, but both the hot air manifold 20 and the cold air manifold 31 are now situated above the first story floor 12.
As illustrated in Figures 2a and 2b, the hot air manifold 20, which may be horizontally or Page 5 of 10 vertically aligned (or a combination of horizontal and vertical alignment) within the walls and/or ceiling, as space permits, is connected to the furnace through or by way of a plenum 22. The hot air manifold 20 is branched into ducts 24, 26, 28, 30 and 32. The cold air manifold 31 which may also be horizontally or vertically aligned (or a combination of horizontal and vertical alignment) within the walls and/or ceiling, as space permits, is connected to the furnace through or by way of a vertical conduit or riser 29.
The cold air manifold 31 is branched into ducts 34, 36 and 38.
It is understood that the same or additional ductwork may also be connected to an air conditioning unit (not illustrated) in an analogous manner known to a person skilled in the art to provide cooled air to the house.
The absence of the cold and hot air manifolds under the first story floor provides an added head room in the basement. This positioning of the cold and hot air manifolds above the first story floor 12, in a more centrally located position within the house, permitting the use of shorter lengths of smallerllow volume ducts and reduces interference or potential interference between the ducts and the structural and other elements of the house interior, while at the same time allowing the air to travel through larger ducts a greater percentage of the distance between the furnace and the areas in the house to be heated or cooled, thereby decreasing heat losses, air noises and loading on the forced air distribution fan.
Refernng to Figure 3, in this embodiment, the fizrnace 18 (and/or an air-conditioning unit, or a ventilating unit) is now disposed on the floor of the first story. It can conceivably be placed on the second story or higher floor, if the building has a considerable number of levels. In this embodiment, the hot air manifold 20 is branched into ducts 24, 26, 30 and 32. The cold air manifold 31 which rnay also be horizontally or vertically aligned (or a combination of horizontal and vertical alignment) within the walls and/or ceiling, as space permits, is connected to the furnace through or by way of a vertical conduit or riser 29.
The cold air manifold 31 is branched into ducts 34, 36 and 38.
In each of the above-referenced embodiments, additional air vents may also be positioned, for example, on the manifolds, where convenient; and where it may be advantageous to do Page 6 of 10 so, or along the ductwork upstream or downstream from the manifolds.
By positioning the furnace (and/or an air-conditibning unit, or a ventilating unit) in a generally central location within the house or building as illustrated in Figure 3, and on or above the first story, one may significantly reduce the distance that the air must move during its circulation between the furnace and/or air conditioner, and those areas in the house to be heated or cooled potentially reducing and saving building material and reducing the need for significant modification or cutting of existing structural elements of the house, or elaborate "work grounds" to provide a passage for the ducts:
While the invention is described in detail with particular reference to manufactured houses, it is understood that it can readily be applicable to conventional houses erected in a "stick built" manner, on site, from the ground up:
In the foregoing specification, the invention has been described with reference to specific embodiments thereof. It will, however, be evident that various modifications and changes can be made thereto without departing from the broader spirit and scope of the invention.
The specification and drawings are, accordingly, to be regarded in an illustrative rather than a restrictive sense.
Page 7 of 10

Claims (13)

  1. THE EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION IN WHICH AN EXCLUSIVE
    PROPERTY OR PRIVILEGE IS CLAIMED ARE DEFINED AS FOLLOWS:
    In a house defining at least two levels, each level defining a floor, and having a source of a heating, venting or air-conditioning medium, a medium distribution network connected to the source and comprising a. a medium distribution manifold disposed above the first story floor of the house, the manifold being in fluid communication with the source, and b. a plurality of ducts connected to and in fluid communication with the manifold and extending to various locations of the house for moving the medium between the source and the various locations.
  2. 2. The network as in claim 1 further comprising a conduit connected to and in fluid communication with the source and the manifold for moving the medium between the source and the manifold.
  3. 3. The network according to claim 1 wherein the house is a manufactured house.
  4. 4. The network according to claim 1, 2 or 3 wherein the medium is air.
  5. 5. The network according to claim 4 wherein the medium is hot air.
  6. 6. The network according to claim 4 wherein the medium is cooled air.
  7. 7. The network according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the provision of the medium distribution manifold above the first floor level excludes a provision of another medium distribution manifold below the first level floor.
  8. 8. The network according to claim 1 wherein the medium distribution manifold is disposed below and adjacent the second level floor.
  9. 9. The network according to one of the preceding claims wherein the source is a forced air furnace.
  10. 10. The network according to one of the preceding claims wherein the source is a heat exchanger.
  11. 11. The network according to one of the preceding claims wherein the source is an air-conditioning unit.
  12. 12. The network according to claim 1 further comprising a second medium distribution manifold disposed above the floor of the second level of the house.
  13. 13. The network according to claim 1 or claim 11, wherein the source of the medium is disposed above the floor of the second level of the house.
CA002438154A 2003-08-25 2003-08-25 Heating, venting and air conditioning (hvac) system for manufactured houses Abandoned CA2438154A1 (en)

Priority Applications (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
CA002438154A CA2438154A1 (en) 2003-08-25 2003-08-25 Heating, venting and air conditioning (hvac) system for manufactured houses

Applications Claiming Priority (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
CA002438154A CA2438154A1 (en) 2003-08-25 2003-08-25 Heating, venting and air conditioning (hvac) system for manufactured houses

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
CA2438154A1 true CA2438154A1 (en) 2005-02-25

Family

ID=34230657

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
CA002438154A Abandoned CA2438154A1 (en) 2003-08-25 2003-08-25 Heating, venting and air conditioning (hvac) system for manufactured houses

Country Status (1)

Country Link
CA (1) CA2438154A1 (en)

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Effective date: 20220329

FZDE Discontinued

Effective date: 20220329