Duct Sealing
- Properly sealed ducts reduce energy loss and utility bills, and can improve your home s comfort, indoor air quality, safety, and humidity balance.
- Ducts distribute conditioned air throughout your house. Ductwork that is well sealed and insulated can help maintain a more even distribution of heated and cooled air in the home and improve indoor air quality by
- Reducing the intake of pollutants such as dirt, dust, and mold into the duct system.
- Properly sealed ducts help prevent backdrafting of carbon monoxide from gas furnaces and water heaters into living spaces.
- Additionally, duct sealing helps air conditioning systems work more efficiently by avoiding the intake of hot, humid air from leaky return ducts.
According to the Department of Energy the average American home loses 20%-40% of conditioned air through leaking ducts.
A duct system that is well-designed and properly sealed can make your home more comfortable, energy efficient, and safe.
Comfort
Sealing and insulating ducts can help with common comfort problems, such as rooms that are too hot in the summer or too cold in the winter.
Indoor Air Quality
Fumes from household and garden chemicals, insulation particles, and dust can enter your duct system, aggravating asthma and allergy problems. Sealing ducts can help improve indoor air quality by reducing the risk of pollutants entering ducts and circulating through your home.
Safety
During normal operation, gas appliances such as water heaters, clothes dryers, and furnaces release combustion gases (like carbon monoxide) through their ventilation systems. Leaky ductwork in your heating and cooling system may cause “backdrafting,” where these gases are drawn back into the living space, rather than expelled to the outdoors. Sealing leaks can minimize this risk.
Save Money
Leaky ducts can reduce heating and cooling system efficiency by as much as 35 percent. Sealing and insulating ducts increases efficiency, lowers your energy bills, and can often pay for itself in energy savings. Plus, if you’re planning to install new heating and cooling equipment, a well-designed and sealed duct system may allow you to downsize to a smaller, less costly heating and cooling system that will provide better dehumidification.
Protect the Environment
Energy used in our homes often comes from the burning of fossil fuels at power plants, which contributes to smog, acid rain, and global warming. Simply put, the less energy we use in our homes, the less air pollution we generate. By sealing your ducts and reducing the amount of energy necessary to comfortably heat or cool your home, you can reduce the amount of air pollution generated.
A typical duct system can lose about 35% of conditioned air through leaks, holes, and poorly connected ducts.
