There are lots of attractive duplexes in Ocean City.  Many of the top floor units have comfort issues in the Spring and Summer during cooling season. The homes typically have a large open area for the kitchen, living and dining rooms, with large sliding doors out to a deck.
While great for views and entertaining, this set up often leads to complaints from homeowners and renters about being able to keep these areas cool and as inviting as the view.  Most of the problem in these cases is caused by poor duct design, as was the case with our homeowners.

Problem: Poor duct design meant our homeowners weren't getting the cooling they needed to keep their lovely Ocean City duplex comfortable, all season long.

Solution: Replace the old distribution system with a new, properly designed system. By replacing the old, leaking, internally insulated ducts with new, externally insulated metal trunk with sealed joints, we were able to deliver increased efficiency, while also significantly reducing dust.

This attractive Ocean City duplex provided everything the owners wanted in a weekend retreat.  It's a comfortable home away from home, with light and views that made it a place to relax and recharge. However, once it gets hot, the cooling system just wasn't doing its job. Because it's a second floor unit, the unit is naturally a little warmer, but the lack of cooling was leaving the owners steamed in more ways than one.

Our Plan of Action: The first thing we did was to inspect the current equipment at the home. As you can see from the picture on the left, the installation was not the best.  On closer look, the builder had used internally insulated, galvanized ducts.  This may not mean much to the average person, but to us, it means the homeowner has a system that's leaky, inefficient, and costs money.  Worse yet, because of the leaks, it ends up spreading dust everywhere, which is a nightmare,not only for cleaning, but for anyone with allergies- it just degrades the air quality in the home overall.

Our solution in this particular case was to replace the old distribution system with a new properly designed system. We used new, externally galvanized metal trunk with sealed joints that will be able to deliver the cooling without sending a good portion of the cool air up through the roof, and it will help contain and prevent the spread of dust throughout the home. Our homeowners have ended up with improvements to their existing system that will make the system much more efficient, saving them cooling and heating costs, they will actually end up with less cleaning, and less aggravation to allergens that would otherwise be spreading like wildfire throughout the home. 

As you can also see from the picture on the right, the new system is also neater and easier to access should there ever be a problem, without exposing workers or family members needlessly to all that fiberglass insulation.

Our homeowners are thrilled with the increased comfort in their Ocean City duplex, and with our early Spring, they are sure to get a longer season of enjoyment out of it, as well as benefit from cost savings every month.  The reduced housework is an added bonus as well!

Give us a call if you are having heating or cooling problems at your shore home, and let us help you make sure your home is energy efficient as well as comfortable all season long. Your allergies and your wallet will thank you!