Make Energy Efficiency A Priority With Duct Sealing

Leaky ducts can take quite a toll on the efficiency of your HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning) system, allowing heated or cooled air to escape into your attic, basement or crawl space. Surely, heating or cooling dead space isn’t your goal, especially given today’s ever-rising energy costs, and the impact of that inefficient air delivery can be substantial. In the typical home, about 20 percent of the air that is heated or cooled is lost to leaky ducts, a loss that your energy bills likely will reflect, but which you can remedy quickly and fairly easily with duct sealing.

So how do you know if your home has a leaky, inefficient duct system? Comfort issues in your home can indicate an inefficient duct system. For instance, if some rooms are stuffy and hot, while others are chilly, you may have a problem. Check your vents when the system is running to see if there are some that have less airflow than others, indicating that conditioned air is getting siphoned away before it reaches its intended destination.

If your ducts are in an accessible area, check for obvious leaks, such as holes or joints that have come apart, as well as areas in which the duct has kinks or appears tangled. Are ducts that are in the attic, basement or crawlspace of your home insulated? If not, you are losing efficiency. Additionally, if you suspect ductwork leaks in areas that are inaccessible, contact your HVAC contractor. He should have the specialized tools and expertise to pinpoint duct leaks behind walls and ceiling, and then perform the proper duct sealing strategies in those spots.

For more information on duct sealing or any other home-comfort issues you might have, contact the experts at Paschal Heat, Air & Geothermal. We’ve been making homes in the greater northwest Arkansas area comfortable and energy efficient for more than 40 years.

Our goal is to help educate our customers in Northwest Arkansas about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems).  For more information about energy efficiency and other HVAC topics, download our free Home Comfort Resource guide.

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