Ducting comes in all different shapes, sizes and materials. Which ducting is right for your customer depends on the environment they are growing in.
The basic purpose of ducting in to move air. Pushed or pulled by a fan the ducting provides a route for the air to move along. Moving air can cause some problems, noise and resistance are the two main problems a customer faces when it comes to air extraction.
When selecting the correct ducting you It’s important to take in to account what you customers goals are. For example if your customer is growing in a shed on his farm in the middle of nowhere then noise will not be an issue. However if you customer is growing his veg in his attic in a terrace house one of his main priorities will be to keep the noise low to avoid causing a disturbance in the rooms below and more importantly to avoid disturbing the neighbours.
Standard basic aluminium ducting. This is the ducting most people start out with. It’s efficient when pulled taught and extremely cost effective. It does vary in quality though, some ducting can be extremely flimsy, our Fox aluminium ducting is extremely high quality, it won’t leak air or light and can survive being moved around. Remember the majority of budget ducting is poor quality, made from very thin flimsy plastic with a extremely thin layer of aluminium adhered to the surface. This type of ducting won’t survive moving around and can very often leak air and light.
Combi ducting. Like aluminium ducting just stronger, more discrete, and more durable. Like the name suggests com I ducting is a combination of aluminium ducting covered in a black flexible plastic exterior. It looks cool but doesn’t really provide many advantages over standard aluminium ducting.
Acoustic ducting. Acoustic ducting used to be the grand daddy of them all. Made from perforated aluminium ducting wrapped in fibreglass insulation, wrapped in plastic all contained in a reflective silver foil exterior. Acoustic ducting massively reduces the dB level of your customers extraction fan. Unfortunately it’s absolutely horrible to work with, just like interfering with the insulation in your loft, when you cut the ducting it releases thousands of small particles into the air, they’re itchy and annoying and worth avoiding where possible.
Solid metal ducting. The longer then length of your ducting the more resistance it causes, having a negative impact on the volume of air the fan can move. Solid ducting provides the smoothest path for air to travel down. Unfortunately solid ducting is almost impossible to transport, difficult for shops to store and difficult to install.
G.A.S Phonic Trap Ducting. This ducting is the latest on the market. It’s closest relation would be acoustic ducting in the ducting family. Phonic trap ducting is compromised of a fabric inner duct, a layer of acoustic plastic insulation covered by a strong black plastic cover. It’s as quiet as acoustic ducting without the mess. The main difference is the price. Phonic trap ducting is terribly expensive compared to other ducting options (excluding solid)
It’s important to advise your customer on the best choice for their needs. To provide excellent service and create a loyal customer base the customer needs to leave your shop felling happy with what he has just purchased
, understanding it’s benefits and the reasoning you recommended it to him, your customer will appreciate the honesty. Most growers start out with basic ducting and it’s perfect acceptable to use this. Remember as time passes they will eventually want to upgrade their system with to make it bigger/ quieter/stealthier.