Return Air Pathways (Transfer Grilles)

About Return Air Pathways (RAPs)

Most HVAC contractors install ducts and registers to deliver conditioned air to every room in a house. But they often neglect to provide an adequate return-air path from each room back to the furnace. Many homes don’t have return-air transfer grilles in every room. Instead, homes will have one large return-air grille in a central hallway or living space that serves the whole house. What this means is all of the air needed by the home’s forced-air system has to be pulled through that single grille before it can be heated by the furnace or cooled by the AC system. As a result, air pressure becomes imbalanced. This leads to uneven room temperatures, higher energy costs, and moisture problems in bathrooms.

A simple and inexpensive solution in these cases is using through-wall and in-door transfer grilles. Tamarack Brand transfer grilles are known as Return Air Pathways (or RAPs for short) because they do just that – create a pathway for air to flow from room to room. Tamarack RAPs come with an internal baffle material designed to prevent an increased transmission of light and sound through the vent/grille.

Return Air Pathway (RAP) Videos

The following videos demonstrate the simple process of installing Tamarack Return Air Pathways.

Additional Product Resources

The following articles feature our RAPs and were written by respected building experts.

• Fine Home Building Article – “Indoor Airflow – Perfect Balance vs. Door Undercut”
• Green Building Advisor Article – “Perfect Balance Makes The Cut”
• Energy Vanguard Article – “An Easy Retrofit For Return Air”
• Fine Home Building – “Return Air Problems“

The following case study features our Wall Return Air Pathway (Wall RAP) and supports the technical benefits of balanced air pressure.

• Building America Florida U.S  Department of Energy Case Study