Air ducts are the delivery system for heating and cooling the home. It does not matter how efficient or how well your system works if your ducts are letting air escape from the wrong places. Depending on the home, up to 25 percent of the conditioned air can either be escaping or mixing with unconditioned outside air. Leaking ducts are not the only problem. Air ducts can have a number of issues:
- Kinks in flexible ducts can seriously reduce airflow. This can lead to poor air velocity before it reaches interior vents.
- A rip or tear in a flexible duct can be in a concealed area like an attic, crawlspace or basement.
- Ducts going to a particular room distant from the furnace or air conditioner may be too small to be effective.
- Improperly attached grills and registers can lose air that goes into walls and floors before reaching the room.
- Joints can come loose and spill out air. Even though they may look connected, closer inspection can reveal otherwise.
Making certain that air ducts are properly sealed is a sure way to increase efficiency and reduce energy costs. Air infiltration can occur in any area, from loose furnace or air conditioner connections to filter slots. In order to ensure a sealed system, the entire network of ducting should be examined.
If you have rooms that seem stuffy, others that are hard to heat or cool or have uncommonly high energy bills, air ducts could be the problem. Our technicians at Rodenhiser have years of experience tracking down costly duct problems. We can find issues that may have gone undetected for years. If you have suspicions about your ducting or if it has never been checked, give us a call. We may be able to help you reduce your home energy costs.
Our goal is to help educate our customers about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems). For more information about sealing air ducts and other HVAC topics, download our free Home Comfort Solutions Guide.
Rodenhiser Plumbing, Heating and Air Conditioning serves the Route 495/128 area of Massachusetts. To get started, check out our website or see our current promotions