If your home is heated or cooled by a traditional HVAC system, the air that keeps your home comfortable is distributed via a duct system. All of the air from your system travels through this ductwork, which creates many opportunities for air and energy loss. Keeping your ductwork sealed good and tight is essential if you want to keep your conditioned air where it belongs and your energy costs down.
Holes, rips and poorly sealed connections can account for the loss of as much as 20 percent of the air flowing through your ductwork. If your ductwork runs through uninsulated or unconditioned areas of your home, such as a crawl space or an unfinished attic or basement, the air loss can rise to 60 percent. This places a tremendous strain on your HVAC equipment as it tries to keep up with cooling or heating demands. Watch closely for signs of ductwork leaks, such as:
- An unexpected increase in your utility bills unrelated to weather extremes or increased usage
- Stuffy, uncomfortable rooms
- Rooms that are difficult to heat or cool properly
Work in tandem with your HVAC-system contractor to make sure your ductwork is sealed properly. You can do much of the initial work yourself. Visually inspect the parts of the duct system that you can locate easily.
- Check connections, assessing whether they fit tightly at elbows and branches.
- Look for holes and cracks, especially where the ductwork is sealed.
- Make sure registers and vents in the various rooms of your home are sealed.
You can make easy repairs using mastic and mesh. Your contractor can handle the rest of the job. He has the equipment needed to find leaks in the parts of the duct system that are not easily reached. Once those are found, he can make sure they’re sealed.
While you’re at it, see to it that your ductwork’s insulated, as well. Again, this is a job that you and your contractor can work on together.
Rheem Pro Partner is the Denver Metro area’s professional source for home comfort and equipment sales and services. Contact us for more information on sealing ductwork and how it can help to keep your monthly energy costs lower and more manageable.
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