Flexible ducts are made out of corrugated plastic often wrapped in insulation.
Flex duct vs sheet metal duct.
Metal ducts are more rigid due to the nature of steel making them ideal to build an entire hvac system.
Some sheet metal air ducts are lined with an external or internal fiberglass duct liner.
Also i think spider webs are more likely to form in metal versus flex.
Sheet metal ducts are less likely to incur dangerous mold and growths because their surfaces are non porous and smooth.
Here are the itemized costs for the most common types of ductwork and supplies needed to complete installation.
I don t know why but i have taken metal pipe apart to find a lot of crud which i don t think would live in flex duct.
I am not hating on metal pipe but flex duct is more practical in many applications.
Flex ducts are better for existing trunk and branch heating and cooling systems.
I ve only been building since 1995 so i can t say for certain why we left the sheet metal guys behind but i suspect it was manly for cost reasons.
Cost of installation supplies.
Flexible ducts are fairly easy to install and will often cost less than the rigid ductwork.
I have seen many leaky metal ducts in crawl spaces as well.
Their shape and size also allows them to be installed in locations that would not accept full sized sheet metal ductwork.
While they tend not to last as long as sheet metal they are very cost effective.
This is because they re more versatile and flexible.
1 10 5 25 per foot insulated flexible duct 4 to 16 diameters used as branches or in radial duct attic systems 2 30 13 00 per foot round and oval sheet metal duct 3 to 8 diameters typically used for trunks in small homes and.
While sheet metal ductwork tends to be a better long.