Troubling Signs That Your Ductwork Needs Attention

The ductwork in your home serves as a network of tubes that deliver heated or cooled air to every room. Sometimes, problems occur with the duct system that waste money, degrade home comfort and even threaten your health. Here are some troubling signs that your ductwork needs attention.

• Leaky or disconnected ducts. The largest duct-related problems are leaks and disconnected joints that allow heated and cooled air to escape into unoccupied spaces, such as the attic, garage or crawlspace. Flexible ductwork may be torn, and sometimes entire sections of ductwork can fall away from each other. Even if your ductwork simply has small holes at the joints, these are indications that your ductwork needs attention. Duct mastic should be used when sealing leaky ductwork.
• Uninsulated ductwork runs through unconditioned spaces. Heat loss and heat gain occur when ductwork passes uninsulated through the attic, garage or crawlspace. Heat transfer results in significant energy losses that raise your heating and cooling bills. All you need to fix this problem is to install insulation around well-sealed ductwork, and you’ll keep heated and cooled air where it belongs.
• Airflow problems. If air flowing from any supply vents feels lukewarm, or there doesn’t seem to be any air flowing at all, your ductwork needs attention. It could be an issue of blind-alley ducts, which are the result of mistakes made during installation. These ducts lead nowhere, leaving the register it’s supposed to serve void of proper airflow.
• Inadequate return ducts. In some homes, leaky joist spaces are improperly used to channel airflow. Other homes have no return ducts at all, forcing HVAC equipment to consume more energy to keep the home comfortable. The lack of a return duct system can also depressurize the home and give rise to health hazards.

If you find that any of these troubling signs apply to you, your ductwork needs attention. Be sure to leave any duct changes or repairs in the hands of a qualified professional. Contact Air-Tro, Inc. Heating & Air Conditioning to work with such a professional. We have served the Pasadena area since 1969.

Our goal is to help educate our customers in the greater Los Angeles, California area about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems).  For more information about ductwork and other HVAC topics, visit our website.

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