I vote for the attic.
Difference in attic or crawl space.
If you have vaulted ceiling then you will need to install some registers near the ceiling on one of the walls.
With new construction i would look for a way to have them in conditioned space.
The attic would be fine if the equipment and duct work were installed in conditioned space.
The cellar and the attic.
In a crawlspace you have to worry about critters and duct losses.
In the attic you have worry about heat gain and duct losses.
Knowing the disadvantages of attic install and the crawl space install.
Crawl space so you can make the best decision when you have a new home built.
Since a crawl space can be anywhere from 16 inches to four feet high a crawl space built home needs to have entrance ramps to provide the same ease of mobility.
In some rare cases the term attic crawl space refers to a section of an enclosed section of an attic with a low ceiling that is situated within a larger more habitable attic space.
Seal supply boxes with mastic.
Strap ducts out of insulation with 3 ductstraps per specifications.
It s easy to see your point about eliminating ductwork from the attic.
Make sure the fill s depth is uniform across the attic.
O is air conditioning the 1st floor effective with floor venting if i run ductwork in the basement.
My vote would be the crawl space if there is sufficient room and easy access for service.
If there were a way to eliminate the possibility of critters i would prefer the cooler location for ducts.
To make it easy to eyeball how level the material is as you blow it in screw depth guides to joists throughout the space.
A person who has turned his attic into an office or a guest room for example might still have a crawl space if one section of the attic was too low to be used for living purposes.
A two room addition on the 1st floor has limited attic space and a 4 crawl space.
However i have two questions if i want to centrally air condition my entire house.
Installation whether using a concrete slab 1 or a crawl space only a professional should prep the site and install the foundation.
This is a big deal and has the potential to add significant cost to air sealing insulating crawl space encapsulation and all those things we do in confined spaces.
Insulate and air seal the floor with open cell foam put ductwork and mechanicals in the attic install a radiant barrier and mastic seal the ducts.
If it applies to energy auditors and raters too that could really be difficult because many times they go into a house on their own.