After a few steamy summers and bitterly cold winters, you finally did it: you installed forced heating and cooling in your home. Congratulations! It was a financial and logistical hurdle, but the resulting temperate climate is totally worth it….right? Well, not if you are losing 20-30 percent of your treated air due to poorly sealed ducts. This is a common occurrence in many homes, even those with relatively new systems. While pinhole leaks in the seal of your ducts may seem minuscule, the sum of all these exit points results in high energy bills, limited airflow, and rooms that are difficult to heat or cool.
Ensuring that your treated air doesn’t escape is key to getting the most out of your system. You may think that small leaks don’t have a significant enough effect on your efficiency to warrant a repair, but it can have a critical impact on your system’s performance. To convert the non-believers, we’ve compiled a list of the top five benefits of properly sealed ducts.
- Improved indoor air quality is another indirect benefit of keeping your ducts properly sealed. Fumes from your garage, debris, and dust can enter through gaps and aggravate asthma or allergy symptoms. Keeping those tiny airways closed can increase your health.
- Raised comfort levels are the most obvious result of well-sealed air ducts, as they allow your system to do its job effectively, resulting in cooler rooms in hotter temperatures and cozy warmth in the winter months.
- Increased safety is a benefit that is often overlooked, but can be dramatically impacted by the quality of your duct system. Household gas appliances can sometimes release combustion gases through their ventilation system, such as carbon monoxide, that are toxic when inhaled. With a leaky duct system, these gases get “back drafted” in your home instead of released outdoors, causing major health risks.
- Minimizing the carbon footprint of your home is a powerful way to protect the environment and live sustainably. Limiting the fossils fuels needed to power your system will conserve natural resources and help to sustain our planet, while still keeping you cool in the heat and warm in the cold.
Not sure if you have leaks in your ducts? Let us run a free diagnostic exam and find out! Contact Just Right Services at (949) 245-6320.
