the.com/ductwork
The building's lungs, hidden in the ceiling so you only notice it when it rattles.
means The network of sheet-metal channels that carries heated or cooled air through a building's walls and ceilings.
from Built from 'duct,' which traces to Latin 'ducere' — 'to lead or draw along' — the same root behind 'conduct' and 'aqueduct.' Ducts were originally just pipes or channels leading water or liquid; the word got drafted into HVAC use once buildings needed something to lead air, not water, from furnace to room. 'Work' tacked on the way it does in 'brickwork' or 'network' — turning the material into the whole constructed system.
- surface area
- often exceeds the building's actual floor area
- leak rate
- typical systems leak 20 to 30 percent of air
- sizing math
- too small and your HVAC just wheezes forever
- sound carrier
- doubles as an accidental intercom between rooms