Benefits of Air Duct Sealing

4/19/2015

Your home’s air ducts play a vital role in keeping fresh, temperature-controlled air circulating through your home. When your ducts develop leaks or cracks, your ducts can’t do their job properly. Even if they aren’t damaged or have huge cracks or holes, you are still potentially losing significant air through every single connection point in the system.

Your ducts can develop leaks for all kinds of reasons. One of the main ones is exposure to extreme temperatures on a regular basis. Because your ducts are usually tucked away in walls and other out of the way places in your home, they are often not protected by insulation and other barriers that keep the rest of your house comfortable no matter what the weather is like outside.

Over time, this exposure compromises the integrity of your ducts, causing them to develop small cracks and fissures that will only continue to grow. Of course, these cracks can also be the result of shoddy workmanship or improper installation, so even if your ducts aren’t that old, it is a good idea to have them tested to see if any leaks exist.

Even with the heating and cooling system off, the leaks in the ducts increase the ventilation rate of the house – increasing the need for heating or cooling.

Once your duct’s leaks are found and identified, it is time to proceed with the sealing process. Sealing your ducts provides you with many benefits, including improved indoor air quality and a better overall home heating and cooling experience.

A well-designed and properly sealed duct system can make your home more comfortable, energy-efficient and safer.

Here are a few benefits of duct sealing from EnergyStar.gov:

• Comfort. Sealing and insulating ducts can help with common home temperature 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 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 the risk of excess carbon monoxide polluting your home.
• Save Money. Leaky ducts can reduce heating and cooling system efficiency by as much as 20 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.

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Heating and Cooling Des Moines Since 1997

If you can’t access your ducts to repair them, schedule an appointment to repair leaking ducts with Service Legends. We can repair your leaking and dirty air ducts to improve your indoor air quality and save on energy bills! You can end up saving more than 25% on your HVAC bills.

515-657-6634Request Appointment Online

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