Spiralmate® Round Ductwork System Is Working Well in South Dakota

Posted on October 24, 2017 by Ductmate Industries

The Prairie Lakes Wellness Center in Watertown, S.D., a modern community center conveniently located in the fastest growing area of Watertown, opened in April 2017 and has 104,000 square feet of space. The $24 million multi-level facility features multiple basketball courts, racquetball courts, a running track, a sauna and whirlpool, a large fitness area, and a state of the art pool area that includes a leisure pool as well as a competition pool.

Choosing the Right System for Aesthetics and Performance

For areas that are not exposed, rectangular, medium-pressure ductwork was chosen. For exposed areas, the Spiralmate® Round Duct Connection System was used. All the spiral connections were manufactured by Ductmate Industries.

Gary Chappell, Ductmate Regional Channel Manager, said the spiral ductwork is exposed and visible from multiple perspectives. On the second floor, where the ceiling for downstairs is positioned at eye level, it was even more important to have an attractive product. Chappel said, “The project is aesthetically pleasing both close up and from a distance. From a performance standpoint, the system is airtight, efficient and doesn’t require any additional sealing.”

Jon Burri, Vice President at Creative Metal Solutions, the specifier and fabricator for this project, said everything went very smoothly on the job site. “We made custom lengths in the shop and delivered them to the jobsite, ranging in size from as large as 42” in diameter to as small as 10” in diameter. Large amounts of 28-32” ductwork were installed above the track, and 18-20” inch segments were installed in the workout areas.”

The ductwork in the pool area was double-walled aluminum to reduce the sound of the airflow from spectators and to prevent corrosion from the harsh pool environment. Galvanized steel was used on all the ductwork in other areas.

MacArthur Co. was the distributor for this project. According to Chappell, “They have been a great asset and long-standing Ductmate distributor in Sioux Falls.”

Burri said a couple of trailers of product a week were sent to the jobsite on and off for about six months. “We delivered in phases so that a lot of room wasn’t needed to store product during the entire job,” he said.

The company always recommends the Spiralmate® system because, Burri said, “The cost is always justified with savings in field installation time and cost, and it allows for an air-tight system that looks great.”

Faster Installation, Big Labor Savings
Active Heating, Inc., based in Watertown, S.D., was the HVAC contractor. Jason Roehrich, Vice President at the company, said the installation of the Spiralmate® system is usually fast, but this project went even faster than normal.

“The finished job features a wide-open, exposed look with neat, straight long runs,” he said. “In one area, we had a run of 100-150 feet with a 90-degree turn into another long run of about 300 feet, and it looks great.”

Roehrich added, “Our installers in the field really like the Spiralmate® system because it quickly snaps in place, provides a great seal, installs faster than other products, and it provides a straight, clean look when it’s finished.”

Another advantage of the system is that when a piece of ductwork is cut down in size, the flange can be removed and re-used—unlike with other systems. This saves even more time and money.

The end result was a successful project for Ductmate and everyone else involved. The state-of-the-art Prairie Lakes Wellness Center has an HVAC system to match that’s pleasing to the eye, energy efficient and will perform well for many years to come.

PROseal Spray Duct Sealant Shortens Application Time By 50%

Posted on February 18, 2014 by Ductmate Industries

Studies and testing have demonstrated that heating and cooling systems can lose up to 30% of their efficiency due to leaks in the duct joints and seams. One solution is to seal the ductwork at the joints with gasket material supplied by the manufacturer. Another is the application of duct sealant that can be applied at the joints as well as duct seams for a tight connection.

New standards in the building industry now require all ducting to be sealed to prevent air leakage. Not only does it save energy, low leakage reduces the load on the heating and cooling equipment.

Scott Schindler, owner of Schindler Heating & A/C, Inc., runs his business in Boonville, IN. For over 15 years he has installed and serviced air conditioning and heating equipment in southern Indiana.

Schindler has four employees and works primarily on residential and light commercial housing. As a businessman, he believes every job he does gets 110% of his efforts—a main reason he is the HVAC installer choice for many of the largest builders in his area.

Schindler has used Ductmate’s PROseal mastic for many years. Like most duct sealants, it is applied manually and can take an entire day to finish one house. The results were always good, but if you are not careful you can wear as much as you apply.

While picking up materials at Wilhite Supply Co, his local Ductmate distributor, Schindler was introduced to PROseal Spray, Ductmate’s premium water-based, high velocity duct sealant that can be applied using a wide range of sealant application equipment. It was love at first sight!

“I’m somewhat of a tool nut and am interested in anything mechanical,” said Schindler. “The fact that you can apply duct sealant using a spray system really intrigued me; five minutes later I was a believer.”

Schindler had investigated other brands of spray mastics as well but found one major problem. Most sealant manufacturers strongly recommended using their spray system. These systems cost on average $7,500 a unit, a greater investment than he wanted to make.

“We found out that Ductmate’s PROseal Spray can be used with a variety of spray systems with no problems in application or performance,” said Schindler. “In the end I purchased a sprayer for $1,700, and that was even for a slightly better unit than I needed.”

Christian Nauman, Sealants & Adhesives Product Line Manager for Ductmate, says ProSeal® Spray offers contractors benefits other than speed of application. “Ductmate formulated ProSeal® Spray as an extension of our manually-applied ProSeal® product,” said Nauman. “Both are designed to seal metal and metal joints against air leaks in low, medium, and high pressure duct systems up to 15” w.g.”

ProSeal® is a premium water-based high-velocity duct sealant that is non-flammable with a low odor and low VOC off-gassing. This is important for contractors working in tight spaces for prolonged periods of time.

ProSeal® Spray has excellent adhesion to all types of metals, and will not drip or sag under normal application conditions. The sealant has a very low shrinkage rate and remains permanently flexible over the life of the product. It is also UV, water and mildew resistant, and can be used on painted latex or epoxy finishes.

Upon using the PROseal Spray for the first time Schindler said he was a little apprehensive it would work as promised because of the viscosity of mastic. It didn’t take long to convince him otherwise.

“Our sprayer has a 150 foot hose allowing us to reach most of the house without moving the unit,” Schindler remarked. “We can finish an entire house in 30 minutes compared to an entire day using manual application.”

Many of the builders Schindler works with construct Energy Star homes. These buildings have to pass strict requirements minimizing air leakage for the building as well as the HVAC ducting. Schindler sprays all seams and joints with PROseal Spray with great success.

Schindler says his duct installations always pass with ease, and the inspector says his work is the best he has ever seen.

Once finished, the spray unit must be cleaned before the mastic hardens. Schindler says all that is needed are a few gallons of hot water that he runs through the sprayer until it runs clear. Since PROseal Spray is water-based, no harsh cleaners are required.

In addition to duct sealing, Schindler has found another use for the product. With PROseal Spray’s excellent adhesive qualities, he uses it to seal holes and cracks in the building that he may come across in places like crawl spaces.

New Polyester Duct Liner Less Expensive, Reduces Installation Time

Posted on July 19, 2013 by Ductmate Industries

Schreiber Foods is constructing a new corporate headquarters and global technology center in downtown Green Bay, WI. Founded in Green Bay in 1945, it lays claim to be the world’s largest employee-owned dairy company. The $50 million headquarters building is 235,000 sq. ft. and reaches five stories high with a fit-out of primarily office space. When completed, it will employ approximately 550 people in the greater Green Bay area.

The firm Hammel, Green and Abrahamson (HGA Inc.) is an integrated architecture, engineering and planning company responsible for the HVAC system design along with other mechanical systems on the Schreiber Foods Project. Kevin Pope, Senior Mechanical Engineer and Vice President at HGA, is the Engineer of Record on the project.

“For most ducting projects of this type, we typically specify a polyimide foam liner for the supply ducting and a fiberglass liner for the return,” said Pope. “The reason for this is any fibers coming off the fiberglass liner are captured in the air handling filtration system before it reenters the supply air. It’s also a way to keep cost down since fiberglass is less expensive and offers reasonable sound attenuation.”

The polyimide foam is generally coated with an acrylic-type polymer when used for duct liner. The coating provides a protective barrier against dust and moisture from collecting in the duct. However, one of the drawbacks to the polyimide foam can be more expensive than other materials.

J. F. Ahern Co. is the mechanical contractor for the project and responsible for the sheet metal and other mechanical systems. Shaun Neubauer, Project Manager for J.F. Ahern, has as one of his primary functions – the need to control project costs.

“It’s part of my job to control project costs so I begin immediately looking for alternative material choices,” said Neubauer. “We noticed immediately that the polyimide foam cost was coming in rather high and we began investigating alternative duct liner material. We had an opportunity to meet with Ductmate Industries to compare their new PolyArmor polyester-based liner material.”

PolyArmor is new to the market, having been out only one and one-half years. It is a polyester duct liner used in forced air heating, ventilating, and air conditioning systems. It is engineered to provide industry leading R-values with excellent noise reduction values and superior indoor air quality.

The polyester material is webbed into a thermal blanket which is then bonded with an FSK facing to resist damage during system installation and operation. It also provides excellent durability in the airstream.

Neubauer said the PolyArmor met the specification requirements and he was nicely surprised with the cost estimate. Since the polyimide was specified, he submitted the PolyArmor cost saving and specifications to Pope and requested a substitution, which was approved.

J. F. Ahern and Neubauer have a long history working with Ductmate Industries. Quite often they specify other Ductmate products like access doors, connectors and vane systems. Their relationship was a key factor in their decision to install the new PolyArmor liner material.

More emphasis was placed on noise reduction than insulation values although both were important. The PolyArmor proved excellent for sound attenuation with a .65 NRC rating while also delivering a R5 insulation value in one-inch material thickness.

Duct sizes vary, having dimensions up to 6’ by 3’ and handling an air flow of up to 80,000 CFM. The specifications called for the PolyArmor installed approximately 20’ downstream from each VAV discharge connections.

Chris Elwing, Shop Manager for J.F. Ahern, was impressed with the installation performance of PolyArmor. With over 31 years working the sheet metal industry, 13 of those with J.F. Ahern, he’s seen his share of duct insulation.

“We install all duct liners at the shop and have had to use elastomeric-type product for many of our installations,” said Elwing. “Elastomeric material is tough to work with because it’s hard to cut and shape into place.”

“We had never used the PolyArmor liner before and discovered that it installs much faster and is easy to pin; It greatly reduced our man hours on the project.” Elwing estimated they installed 25,000 sq. ft. of the liner material, all installed by hand using no coil machine. Even with the additional labor time required, he cut his installation time by 30% or more!

The PolyArmor liner is installed to the duct surface using water-based adhesives. This eliminates the need for solvent-based bonding agents that emit VOC’s for many years after installation. The polyester base material does not promote or support the growth of mold or mildew making it very desirable for a healthy environment and occupant safety.

The net result was even better than expected.

Neubauer commented, “Not only did we reduce costs for the liner material, we saved another 30% on installation time, which is significant.”

Both companies agree they will use the PolyArmor on future projects.