Your ductwork is a major component of your HVAC system, as it is responsible for the distribution of conditioned air throughout the living areas of your home. When it isn’t working properly, you will commonly experience comfort problems such as warm and cool spots throughout your house. To ensure your HVAC system is working optimally, you need to inspect or improve your duct efficiency.

Sealing Your Ducts

If your ducts have been damaged over the years, they may have cracks or holes in them. The connections between the individual ducts may have also come loose, allowing air to leak out before reaching the air registers that push air into your living spaces. The average home loses about 30 percent of its conditioned air this way, meaning you are effectively paying to send conditioned air to your attic and crawl space.

You can remedy this problem in several ways. One common solution is duct mastic. This is a putty-like material that can be spread over small holes using a brush. The mastic then hardens and the air can’t leak out.

You can also check the connections between the ducts to see if they are airtight. If not, you can try tightening the metal straps holding them together. You may need to use a heat-resistant tape to strengthen the connection. Do not use duct tape for this as it is not heat-resistant, try foil or butyl tape instead.

Insulating Your Ducts

In the winter, warm air passes through your ductwork. Unfortunately, your ductwork often travels through parts of your home that are extremely cold, like your attic. The heat in your ducts will start to naturally transfer out of the ducts, causing the air being delivered to your air registers to be colder than it should be. This forces your air system to work harder than it should to get your home to your ideal temperature. By simply wrapping your ducts with insulation, you can prevent this heat transfer from occurring.

For more tips on improving your duct efficiency, contact Smoky Mountain Heating & Airtoday.

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

Smoky Mountain Heating & Air services Asheville, North Carolina and the surrounding areas. Visit our website to see our special offers and get started today!          

Insulation image via Shutterstock