A SASHRAE
H RA E JOURNAL
Journal’s
The following article was published in ASHRAE Journal, April 2000. © Copyright 2000 American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-
Conditioning Engineers, Inc. It is presented for educational purposes only. This article may not be copied and/or distributed electronically or in paper
form without permission of ASHRAE.
Damper Sizing Using
Damper Authority
By Evans Lizardos, P.E.
Fellow ASHRAE
and
Kenneth M. Elovitz, P.E.
Member ASHRAE
A
utomatic dampers control airflow in HVAC systems.
Applications include controlling mixed air tempera-
ture in economizer cycles and airflow to the space
in variable air volume systems. Selecting and sizing
dampers to provide linear control action aids proper
system operation. With linear control, a given change in damper
position produces a proportional change in air quantity. If con-
trol is not linear, a given change in control signal might produce
a consistent change in damper position but a different change
in air quantity. The result is unstable or inaccurate control.
The resistance of the wide open damper can be expressed as
a fraction of the total system resistance. That fraction is called
“Damper Authority” or “Characteristic Ratio.”
Open Damper Resistance
Damper Authority (%) = × 100%
Total System Resistance
The resistance is a pressure drop, so
Open Damper Pressure Drop
Damper Authority (%) = × 100%
Total System Pressure Drop
Note: Total system resistance and total system pressure drop
are for the system without the wide open damper.
It is important to realize that “Total System Resistance” or
“Total System Pressure Drop” relates only to the part of the
system where the damper controls the flow. It is not the entire
system pressure drop or the fan total static pressure. The total
system pressure drop for selecting dampers is usually the pres-
sure drop from a constant pressure point in the system to the
destination for the air.
Figure 1 shows a traditional airside economizer cycle with a
return fan.
The total system pressure drop for the outside air damper is
the pressure difference between outside air and Point A, the
mixing box plenum. The outside air damper only controls the
flow through the weather louver, the damper, and the outside
April 2000
air ductwork. Therefore, the outside air damper authority is
determined by the pressure drop across the outside air damper
as a percentage of the pressure difference between outside air
and Point A, the mixing box plenum. The outside air damper
only controls the amount of flow. It does not control the direc-
tion of flow. For outside air to enter the system, other features
of the control system must make the pressure in the mixing box
(Point A) less than atmospheric.
Similarly, the total system pressure drop for selecting the
exhaust/relief damper is the pressure drop between Point B
and outdoors. For determining the damper authority, the total
system pressure drop includes the pressure drop across the
relief duct and louver. It does not include the pressure drop
across the exhaust/relief damper.
The total system pressure drop for selecting the return damper
may be less obvious. It is the pressure drop from Point B (the
discharge of the return fan) to Point A (the mixing box plenum).
The return air damper does not control the flow through the
return fan. It simply proportions the flow between the relief duct
and the return air duct. The pressure at Point B must always be
greater than atmospheric or air will not leave the system.
For a VAV box, the total system pressure drop is the pressure
from the primary duct to the space. A separate control loop
(typically variable speed drive, variable inlet vanes, or fan dis-
charge damper) controls fan capacity to maintain relatively con-
stant pressure in the primary air duct. The VAV box damper
does not appreciably affect the flow through the main duct. It
only affects the portion of the main duct flow that passes
through the VAV box. Therefore, the total system pressure drop
for a VAV box damper is from the primary air duct to the space.
Damper Types
Figure 2 shows the two damper arrangements used in our
industry.
About the Authors
Evans J. Lizardos is founder and president of Lizardos Engineering Associates,
Mineola, Long Island, N.Y. He is a past Handbook chairman, and serves on
TC.10.9, Refrigeration Applications for Foods and Beverages. Ken Elovitz is an
engineer and in house counsel for Energy Economics, Foxboro, Mass. He is
ASHRAE Journal’s Practical Guide editor.
ASHRAE Journal 37
 1. Parallel blade dampers: all blades W i d e Op e n Da m p e r Ch a r a ct e r i s t i cs
move in the same direction and in parallel. To t a l S y s t e m P r e s s u r e Dr o p Ve r s u s
2. Opposed blade dampers: adjacent Da m p e r A u t h o r i t y
blades move in opposite directions. A p p r o a ch V e l o ci t y P r es s ur e
Figure 3 is a set of damper authority V e l o ci t y P r es s ur e Dr o p Op p o s e d B l a d e P a r a llel B la d e
curves for parallel blade dampers. It shows fp m i n . w.g . i n . w.g .
the best selection to obtain linear propor- 10% 15% 30% 50%
tional control with a parallel blade damper
is a damper authority of 30% to 50%. 300 0.01 0.005 0.05 0.03 0.02 0.01
Figure 4 is a set of damper authority
600 0.02 0.010 0.10 0.07 0.03 0.02
curves for opposed blade dampers. It
shows that the best selection to obtain 700 0.03 0.015 0.15 0.10 0.05 0.03
linear proportional control with an op-
posed blade damper is a damper author- 800 0.04 0.020 0.20 0.13 0.07 0.04
ity of 10% to 15%.
Table 1 is a selection guideline to de- 900 0.05 0.025 0.25 0.17 0.08 0.05
termine the damper velocity for a given
1000 0.06 0.030 0.30 0.20 0.10 0.06
damper authority. It is based on a wide
open damper flow coefficient of 0.5. 1100 0.08 0.040 0.40 0.27 0.13 0.08

Applications 1200 0.09 0.045 0.45 0.30 0.15 0.09

The following examples illustrate
damper selections using the concept of 1300 0.11 0.055 0.55 0.37 0.18 0.11
damper authority. The technique may be
1400 0.12 0.060 0.60 0.40 0.20 0.12
used to select either parallel or opposed
blade dampers for linear control. 1500 0.14 0.070 0.70 0.47 0.23 0.14
Figure 5 shows a typical economizer
cycle damper arrangement with recom- 1600 0.16 0.080 0.80 0.53 0.27 0.16
mended spacing between the damper and
nearby fittings. 1700 0.18 0.090 0.90 0.60 0.30 0.18
Table 2 shows the pressure drop
1800 0.20 0.100 1.00 0.67 0.33 0.20
through two types of fittings at various
duct velocities. Fitting FT-1 is a clinch 1900 0.22 0.110 1.10 0.73 0.37 0.22
type fitting with 90° side entry airflow.
Fitting FT-2 is a clinch type fitting with 2000 0.25 0.125 1.25 0.83 0.42 0.25
straight through airflow.
Figure 5 and Table 2 show how ducts 2200 0.30 0.150 1.50 1.00 0.50 0.30
and fittings can be sized to select damp-
2400 0.36 0.180 1.80 1.20 0.60 0.36
ers by damper authority.
2600 0.42 0.210 2.10 1.40 0.70 0.42
Example 1: Outdoor Air and
Exhaust/Relief Damper Design 2800 0.49 0.245 2.45 1.63 0.82 0.49
A typical pressure drop to bring out-
door air through the intake louver and sub- 3000 0.56 0.280 2.80 1.87 0.93 0.56
sequent ductwork to the mixing box is 0.3
in. w.g. (75 Pa). Therefore, the pressure in 3200 0.64 0.320 3.20 2.13 1.07 0.64
the mixing box must be –0.3 in. w.g. (75 Pa) 3400 0.72 0.360 3.60 2.40 1.20 0.72
relative to outdoors. A pressure drop of
0.3 in. w.g. (75 Pa) also is typical for the 3600 0.81 0.405 4.05 2.70 1.35 0.81
exhaust air path from the return fan dis-
charge to the exhaust air louver outlet. 3800 0.90 0.450 4.50 3.00 1.50 0.90
Therefore, the pressure at the discharge
of the return fan must be +0.3 in. w.g. (75 4000 1.00 0.500 5.00 3.33 1.67 1.00
Pa). Using the legend in Figure 5 with data
*The pressure drop across a wide open opposed or parallel blade damper is the velocity
from Table 1, the following recommended pressure times a flow coefficient factor of “0.5.”
damper authorities are computed for the
outdoor and exhaust/relief air dampers: Table 1: Opposed blade and parallel blade damper selection.

38 ASHRAE Journal April 2000

 Dampers

V VP
VP FT- 1C FT- 1 FT- 2C FT- 2

1000 0.06 1.00 0.06 1.0 0.06

1100 0.08 1.10 0.09 1.0 0.08

1200 0.09 1.20 0.11 1.0 0.09

1300 0.11 1.30 0.14 1.0 0.11

1400 0.12 1.40 0.17 1.0 0.12

1500 0.14 1.50 0.21 1.0 0.14

1600 0.16 1.60 0.26 1.0 0.16

1700 0.18 1.70 0.31 1.0 0.18

1800 0.20 1.80 0.36 1.0 0.20

1900 0.22 1.90 0.42 1.0 0.22

Figure 1: Airside economizer cycle with return fan.
2000 0.25 2.00 0.50 1.0 0.25

2200 0.30 2.00 0.60 1.0 0.30

2400 0.36 2.00 0.72 1.0 0.36

2600 0.42 2.00 0.84 1.0 0.42

2800 0.49 2.00 0.98 1.0 0.49

2900 0.52 2.00 1.04 1.0 0.52

3000 0.56 2.00 1.12 1.0 0.56

Table 2: Duct fitting pressure drop table.

than 0.5 in. w.g. (125 Pa), as follows:

Return fan discharge static pressure available to
Figure 2: Typical multiblade dampers. overcome exhaust louver, bird screen and duct losses:
+0.3 in. w.g./75 Pa.
DP R -V DP R T SD DA
DA DP R Ty p e P r es s ur e in Air-handling system suction pressure available to
M i x i n g B ox overcome outdoor air louver, bird screen and duct loss
to the air-handling system mixing box: –0.3 in. w.g./75 Pa.
1 ,0 0 0 0.03 0.30 10% Opposed –0.33
Available pressure from return air fan discharge to the
1 ,2 5 0 0.05 0.30 15% Opposed –0.35 air-handling system mixing box is 0.6 in. w.g./150 Pa (absolute).
In most applications, the return air duct pressure drop from
1 ,7 0 0 0.09 0.30 30% Parallel –0.39 the return fan discharge to the mixing box is in the order of 0.075
to 0.20 in. w.g. (MPD in the legend to Figure 5). The “Duct
2 ,2 0 0 0.15 0.30 50% Parallel –0.45
Fitting Pressure Drop Guideline” (Table 2) is used to size ducts
and fittings to absorb the excess available pressure to achieve
From the table, the outdoor air and exhaust air dampers should damper authority of 10 to 15% for opposed blade dampers or 30
be sized at a face velocity of 1,000 to 1,200 fpm (5 to 6 m/s) if to 50% for parallel blade dampers.
they are opposed blade dampers. They should be sized for
1,800 to 2,200 fpm (9 to 11 m/s) if they are parallel blade damp- DP R
DP R -V DP R FT- 1 FT- 2 MP D T SD DA
DA
ers. Based on this sizing criterion, outdoor air and exhaust air Ty p e
dampers should not be mounted directly to their respective
1 ,4 0 0 0.06 0.34 0.06 0.14 0.54 10% Opposed
louvers, which usually have face velocities of 300 to 500 fpm
(1.5 to 2.5 m/s) to avoid sucking in rain and snow. 1 ,6 0 0 0.08 0.32 0.06 0.18 0.52 15% Opposed

Example 2: Return Air Damper Design 2 ,1 0 0 0.14 0.22 0.06 0.18 0.46 30% Parallel
In most cases, the return air damper and associated ductwork
pressure drop from the return fan discharge to the air-handling 2 ,5 0 0 0.20 0.10 0.06 0.10 0.40 50% Parallel
unit mixing box must dissipate a differential pressure of more
April 2000 ASHRAE Journal 39
 Figure 3: Damper authority curves of installed parallel blade
dampers.
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Example: Damper Pressure Drop (DPR) + TSD must equal
0.60 in. w.g. (150 Pa)
for 30% authority, DPR = 0.30 × TSD
DPR + TSD = 0.3 × TSD = TSD =0.60
1.3 TSD = 0.60; TSD = 0.46
From the table, the return air damper should be sized at face
velocity of 1,400 to 1,600 fpm (7 to 8 m/s) if it is an opposed blade
damper or 2,200 to 2,400 fpm (11 to 12 m/s) if it is a parallel blade
damper. Whichever damper is selected, duct and fitting pressure
drop of 0.40 to 0.55 in. w.g. (100 to 135 Pa) must be included to
achieve damper authorities of 10% to 15% for opposed blade
dampers and 30% to 50% for parallel blade dampers.

Example 3: Outdoor Air Damper Design

in an Exhaust/Relief Fan Economizer Cycle
In a relief/exhaust air fan economizer cycle, the pressure in
the mixing box reflects the pressure drop for return air to flow
from the space, through the return duct, and into the mixing
box. The pressure in the mixing box is typically on the order of
–0.6 in. w.g. (150 Pa). If the pressure drop through the return
duct is much higher, the system requires a return fan to over-
come that resistance and avoid excessive negative pressures in
the return duct and mixing box.
The pressure in the mixing box must be the same regardless
of which path air takes. Accordingly, if the pressure in the mix-
ing box must be –0.6 in. w.g. (150 Pa) on account of the return air
path, the pressure drop through the outside air path must like-
wise be –0.6 in. w.g. (150 Pa). The outdoor air damper intro-
duces the resistance required to bring the outside air path pres-
sure drop to 0.6 in. w.g. (150 Pa). The outside air louver, bird
screen, and intake plenum duct box typically have a pressure
drop of about 0.3 in. w.g. (75 Pa). The duct and fitting that
connect the intake plenum to the outside air duct (a straight-
through, “FT-2” style fitting) must be sized to achieve the de-
sired damper authority.
40 ASHRAE Journal April 2000
 Dampers

Figure 4: Damper authority curves of installed opposed blade

dampers.

DP R -V DP R FT- 1 FT- 2 MP D T SD DA
DA DP R Ty p e
0.5-
1 ,4 0 0 0.06 0 0.24 0.34 10% Opposed
4
0.5-
1 ,6 0 0 0.08 0 0.22 0.22 15% Opposed
2
0.4-
2 ,1 0 0 0.14 0 0.16 0.16 30% Parallel
6
0.4- Figure 5: Economizer cycle damper arrangement.
2 ,5 0 0 0.20 0 0.10 0.10 50% Parallel
0
From the previous table, the return air damper should be
From the table above, the outdoor air damper should be sized at sized at a face velocity of 1,400 to 1,600 fpm (7 to 8 m/s) when
face velocity of 1,400 to 1,600 fpm (7 to 8 m/s) when using using opposed blade dampers and 2,100 to 2,500 fpm (11 to 12
opposed blade dampers. It should be sized for 2,200 to 2,400 m/s) when using parallel blade dampers.
fpm (11 to 12 m/s) when using parallel blade dampers. Which-
ever damper is selected, a duct and fitting pressure drop of 0.40 Example 5: Exhaust/Relief Air Damper Design
to 0.55 in. w.g. (100 to 135 Pa) must be added to achieve damper in an Exhaust/Relief Fan Economizer Cycle
authorities of 10% to 15% for opposed blade dampers and 30% The exhaust air damper controls a total system pressure drop
to 50% for parallel blade dampers. of about 0.80 in. w.g. (200 Pa). This pressure drop is the differ-
ence between the pressure required to push air out the exhaust
Example 4: Return Air Damper Design in an duct and louver (0.30 in. w.g./75 Pa) and the pressure in the
Exhaust/Relief Fan Economizer Cycle return duct at the inlet to the exhaust/relief fan (–0.50 in. w.g./
The total system pressure drop for the return air damper is 125 Pa).
the pressure drop from the space to the mixing box. It is in the
order of 0.6 in. w.g. (150 Pa). DP R -V DP R T SD DA
DA DP R Ty p e

1 ,5 0 0 0.07 0.73 10% Opposed

DP R -V DP R T SD DA
DA DP R Ty p e
1 ,8 0 0 0.10 0.70 15% Opposed
1 ,4 0 0 0.06 0.54 10% Opposed
2 ,4 0 0 0.18 0.62 30% Parallel
1 ,6 0 0 0.08 0.52 15% Opposed
2 ,9 0 0 0.27 0.53 50% Parallel
2 ,1 0 0 0.14 0.46 30% Parallel

2 ,5 0 0 0.20 0.40 50% Parallel

From the above, the exhaust air damper should be sized at a
face velocity of 1,500 to 1,800 fpm (8 to 9 m/s) when using

April 2000 ASHRAE Journal 41

opposed blade dampers and 2,400 to 2,900 fpm (12 to 14 m/s)
when using parallel blade dampers.

Example 6: Variable Air Volume Damper Design

Assuming a butterfly damper has the same damper authority
characteristics as a parallel blade damper, the following table
demonstrates that a manufacturer’s variable air volume terminal
is designed to have a damper authority of 30%.
Total system pressure drop (TSD) is assumed to be 0.70 in.
w.g. consisting of 0.45 in. w.g. for the takeoff from the main duct
plus 0.25 in. w.g. for the pressure drop through the low velocity
duct and outlet(s).

I n l e t Di a m e t e r
CFM FP M VP
VP DP R T SD DA
DA
S i z e ( i n i n ch e s )
Figure 6: The return air fan economizer cycle (Examples 1
4 225 2,600 0.42 0.21 0.70 30% & 2).
6 500 2,600 0.42 0.21 0.70 30%

8 900 2,600 0.42 0.21 0.70 30%

10
10 1,400 2,600 0.42 0.21 0.70 30%

12
12 2,000 2,600 0.42 0.21 0.70 30%

14
14 3,000 2,600 0.42 0.21 0.70 30%

16
16 4,000 2,600 0.42 0.21 0.70 30%

Since the VAV box manufacturer has established the damper

authority, the ductwork entering the VAV box must be sized so
the damper has the desired authority (30%) in the system as
installed. The next table shows the duct entering the VAV box in
this example should be sized for 3,100 fpm (15.7 m/s) to achieve
30% authority with the parallel blade damper in the VAV box. Figure 7: The relief/exhaust air fan economizer cycle (Ex-
amples 3, 4 & 5).
DP R -V DP R V AT- P D M SD T SD DA
DA DP R Ty p e
Fa ce Co n t r o l Da m p e r S e l e ct i o n
1800 0.10 0.25 0.75 0.90 10% Opposed
DP R -V DP R - H T G T SD - H T G DA
DA DP R Ty p e
2200 0.13 0.25 0.75 0.87 15% Opposed
700 0.03 0.33 10% Opposed
2700 0.23 0.25 0.75 0.77 30% Parallel
1 ,2 5 0 0.05 0.33 15% Opposed
4000 0.33 0.25 0.75 0.67 50% Parallel
1 ,8 0 0 0.10 0.33 30% Parallel
Example 7: Face and Bypass Damper Design
2 ,3 5 0 0.17 0.33 50% Parallel
The tables on the right show that the ideal selections for
linear damper control are an opposed blade damper for the coil
section and a parallel blade damper for the bypass section. The
opposed blade damper at the coil should be sized at a velocity B y - p a s s Co n t r o l Da m p e r S e l e ct i o n
of 700 fpm (3.6 m/s), which matches the probable heating coil
DP R -V D P R - B YP T SD - H T G DA
DA DP R Ty p e
velocity. The parallel blade damper in the by-pass section should
be sized for a velocity of 1,800 to 2,350 fpm (9 to 12 m/s). This 1 ,8 0 0 0.10 0.33 30% Parallel
sizing will reduce the height of the by-pass section.
2 ,3 5 0 0.17 0.33 50% Parallel

42 ASHRAE Journal April 2000

 Figure 8: Variable air volume damper control (Example 6).

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Figure 9: Face and bypass damper control (Example 7).

Conclusion
This article introduces the concept of damper authority
and provides examples of how the concept can be used to
design for linear damper control. The typical pressure drops
used in the examples are just that—typical. The techniques
presented here can be applied to actual jobs by calculating
actual pressure drop for the actual system and selecting ve-
locities accordingly. Since damper authority is defined as the
ratio of the damper pressure drop to the system pressure drop
without the damper, the pressure drop through the wide open
damper must be added to the “system pressure drop” when
sizing the fan. „

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43 ASHRAE Journal April 2000