Why is Textile Ducting better than Steel Ducting? A Side-by-Side Comparison

Euro Air’s textile ducts are air distribution ducts made of exclusively designed textile materials. Textile ducts allow clean air to exit evenly through the material’s lightweight and flexible surface. This creates an optimal, draught-free indoor environment. 

Textile ducts offer a wide range of advantages over traditional galvanized steel ducting. To see how they compare with more familiar HVAC systems, let’s break down their benefits point by point. 

Air Distribution

Textile ducts provide far more even air distribution compared to galvanized steel ducts with traditional diffusers. Steel ducts create both draughts and dead zones (areas where the air remains stagnant) depending on one’s proximity to the nearest air vent. By contrast, the entire surface area of a textile duct acts as one big diffuser, distributing air evenly across its entire length. Cool air pours down naturally from the surface of the duct to collect uniformly in the inhabited portions of a room. Meanwhile, heated air can be projected outwards with the aid of high impulse nozzles and laser-cut holes with flow controlling baffles.

Cooling Capacity

By distributing cool air uniformly across the occupied area of an indoor space, textile ducts operate extremely efficiently even at low cooling capacities. Traditional galvanized steel ducts often require a much higher cooling capacity as warm and cool air is stirred unevenly around the room. This means that textile ducts can maintain a cool environment for much longer, and with much less energy, than galvanized steel ducts.

Installation Costs

Thanks to their lightweight materials, modular designs and intuitive suspension systems, the installation costs of Euro Air’s textile ducts are exceptionally low. It’s possible to save up to 70% on installation times thanks to textile ducting’s simple set-up process. By contrast, steel ducts weigh as much as 20 times more than their textile counterparts, resulting in heavy workloads, more complex handling requirements, and much longer installation times. 

Read More: The Ultimate Guide to Textile Ducting in Southeast Asia

Initial Costs

Euro Air’s textile ducts are produced from textile materials woven at our very own weaving mill in Denmark. This allows us to maintain a consistent level of quality with our raw materials. Meanwhile, the financial and environmental costs of steel are far more expensive than yarns and textiles. They are also vulnerable to price hikes and fluctuations in response to economic volatility. With less expensive, more sustainable materials and a streamlined production process, Euro Air is able to pass these savings on to clients and end consumers.  

Colours

Euro Air’s textile ducts come in a huge variety of customizable colours. We work with Kemotextil a/s to supply the highest quality dyes for all of our textiles, allowing us to satisfy virtually any colour related design decision. Meanwhile, traditional galvanized steel ducts must be assembled, and typically installed, before they can be painted. This introduces a number of delays and overheads that are entirely eliminated by incorporating dyed textiles.

Read More:  Euro Air & The Future of Sustainable HVAC Design

Air Exchange Rate

The entire surface area of a textile duct can be used as one big diffuser, resulting in a very high air exchange rate without high-velocity airflow. To achieve a comparably high air exchange rate, galvanized steel ducts need to produce powerful, concentrated draughts around just a handful of vents.

Likelihood of Draughts in Occupied Zones

Textile ducts can efficiently heat, cool and ventilate an indoor space without much risk of producing a draught in the occupied portion of a room. This is because treated air is distributed from the entire length of the duct, collecting uniformly in the room below.  Meanwhile, galvanized steel ducts depend on air vents, introducing a high potential for draughts that only increases with higher air exchange rates.

Weight

The average weight of a Ø-500 x 1.000 mm section of textile ducting is approximately 550g. Meanwhile, a Ø-500 x 1.000 mm section of galvanized steel ducting weights approximately 8,770g, 15 times more than its textile counterpart.

Maintenance

Thanks to their lightweight, flexibility, and modular design, textile ducts are incredibly easy to take down, wash in a regular washing machine, and reinstall. This makes periodic maintenance a breeze, increasing the system’s functional lifespan while guaranteeing optimal performance. By contrast, cleaning steel ducts is a costly, time-consuming and labour-intensive process. This often results in delayed or neglected maintenance cycles, allowing for the buildup of bacteria, rust, dirt, and mould – each requiring further maintenance. 

Noise Generation

Without vibrating metal surfaces, textile ducts operate cleanly and quietly, eliminating both audible disturbances and high-frequency buzzing. Meanwhile, steel ducts produce a variety of noise issues that increase proportionately with higher airflow and air exchange rates. Over time these disturbances have a measurable impact on workplace productivity and comfort.

Noise Suppression

The lightweight and flexibility of textile materials eliminate the need for any noise suppression on textile ducts. By contrast, noise suppressing steel ducts is a complicated and expensive process and is rarely pursued as a result. 

With lightweight materials, customizable designs and a lighting-fast setup, textile ducting from Euro Air Southeast Asia is the simple solution for all your HVAC needs.

Read More: Euro Air's Textile Ducting Product Guide 2021

We’ve seen how textile ducts stack up against galvanized steel, and the advantages are clear:

• Draught and Dead Zone Free

Textile ducts distribute air evenly through any indoor space, providing an optimal indoor climate free from uncomfortable draughts and dead zones.

• Significant Energy Savings

Textile ducts function with much lower system operating pressures than traditional air distribution systems. More efficient heating, cooling and ventilation reduce overall energy costs.  

• Future Proofed Materials

All of our textile materials are produced in our very own weaving mill in Denmark. They are quality controlled to meet the very highest international standards, guaranteeing a reliable, long-lasting product.

• Weight Reductions

Textile ducts are 70-80% lighter than galvanized steel, dramatically reducing transport costs and making installation and maintenance a breeze.

• Structural Stress Reductions

Lightweight textile materials reduce stress on architectural supports and ceiling infrastructure. They also eliminate the need for high-impact suspension systems.

• Intuitive Installation

With lightweight, flexible materials and a convenient modular layout, textile ducting is incredibly easy to install, accelerating build times and reducing installation overheads.

• Custom Designs

Textile ducts can be customized by colour, shape, size and air distribution system. You can mix and match between textiles, ventilation methods, and suspension systems to produce a bespoke solution tailor-made for you.

• Non-Corrosive & Condensation Free

Textile ducts are produced from non-corrosive, permeable textile materials. This eliminates the build-up of condensation and denies potentially harmful bacteria a space to grow.

• Improved Hygiene:

Textile ducts are easy to take down, clean and reinstall, encouraging a healthier and more hygienic indoor environment.

• Flame Retardant:

Textile ducts are produced from flame-retardant materials. They are highly resilient even in environments with extreme indoor air temperatures. 

• Noise Reducing:

Textile ducting dramatically reduces ambient noise by eliminating vibrating metal components. Soft textile surfaces also absorb noise, reducing the reverberation time of any indoor space.

• Happier, more Productive Staff:

Textile ducting improves workplace hygiene, eliminates distracting ambient noise, and optimizes comfort, resulting in happier, more productive staff.  

But don’t just take our word for it. Here’s what some of our latest clients have to say about textile ducting:

“Textile ducts don’t collect water or condensation like GI systems, so Euro Air was perfect for preventing water leakage in our factories. It's also much less expensive than GI ducting, and the installation was way simpler—it only took us 3-5 days to outfit the entire factory.” – Nguyen Dinh Vu, Site Manager, Thang Tien Company

“One of textile ducting’s strong points is ease-of-installation, it only takes a day or two to set up. The Euro Air sales manager even showed me how to install it myself. Even I could manage it and I don’t know anything about construction, it’s just that simple. It’s way faster, cheaper and easier to install than traditional solutions.”–Kyohei Takahashi, Project Manager, Takashi Niwa Architects

From offices, restaurants and factories across Southeast Asia to Elon Musk’s SpaceX factory at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, Euro Air’s textile ducts are fast becoming the smart choice for developers, architects and designers in search of futureproof air distribution systems.

It’s time to embrace a better indoor climate for your clients, your colleagues, your customers and yourself. It’s time for Euro Air.

Find out what Euro Air Southeast Asia can do for your business today.