Hot summer heat is unbearable for everyone. Whether kids, adults, or old individuals, we all want to escape from it and move towards air-conditioned homes. Aren’t you? Well, if your home feels heavy and hot, just like outdoor humidity levels, it means a serious issue is going on in your home’s ductwork.
From my own experience, sealing the ducts can make a noticeable difference not just in how comfortable your home feels but also in reducing your energy bill. Especially in winter, when you want to keep the heat in and the cold out, having well-sealed ducts means you’re not paying for hot air that just ends up traveling outside through leaky spots.
What is Duct Sealing?
Do you have no idea what duct sealing is?
Let me explain it in simple words. Ducts are the metal units that carry air throughout your home. They’re placed behind the walls, in basements, attics, or even in crawl spaces, mostly in locations where the atmosphere is airtight. Duct sealing is the application of adhesive material in the steel duct to fill the leaky holes to avoid air escape.
Is Duct Sealing a Good Investment?
Why not?
When you consider the comfort of your home, managing heating and cooling costs is a big deal. Without duct sealing, it isn’t possible.
Let’s break down why sealing the leaky ducts or installing them from scratch is a smart move:
- Efficiency: First, airflow is a must for an efficient system. For instance, you have a cooling system that delivers 400 CFM (that’s cubic feet per minute) of air. A leak could waste 300 CFM, almost three-quarters of a ton of cooling. This means your system works harder but still can’t keep up.
- Health & Air Quality: Those leaks can pull dusty, moldy, or contaminated air from your attic, garage, or crawl spaces. This is not just bad news for anyone with AC allergies but also impacts indoor air quality.
- Costs and Wastage: You pay for the air, but what if it slips out into unconditioned spaces like your attic or is wasted outside? Sealed ductwork helps keep the air where it should be, reducing your bills and leakage.
- Safety: Leaky ducts can depressurize your home, releasing dangerous combustion products. The most common one is carbon monoxide, which is released back inside instead of venting it out.
7 Benefits of Duct Sealing
Here are some of the benefits of installing hidden or open structures of ducts throughout your home:
1. Better Indoor Air Quality
Poor air quality simply occurs because air enters from outside. When your home’s air feels musty and filled with dust, check the tiny gaps and leaks in your ducts. These openings let air pollutants from your attic and outside enter and spread throughout your living space whenever the air kicks in.
However, sealing these ducts will close these pathways and make it nearly impossible for unwanted particles to circulate in your home. You should be very careful if your home members have asthma and allergy problems due to the fumes of household or insulation particles.
2. More Comfort and Less Energy Consumption
I’ve found that sealing and insulating ducts can solve common comfort problems, like rooms that are too hot in the summer or cold in the winter. But the benefits don’t stop at comfort.
Leaky ducts can reduce the efficiency of your heating and cooling system by as much as 20 percent, which in turn reduces your energy bills.
4. Enhanced Safety
Safety is a significant concern inside the home. In normal operation, many home appliances, including gas, water heaters, dryers, and furnaces, release combustion gasses. These gasses are extracted through the ventilation systems. If your ducts are leaky, there’s a risk these gasses can return to your living space rather than being extracted outdoors.
Meanwhile, this reversal of noxious gasses is curable with properly covered ducts. That’s how you can save yourself from an unexpected event.
4. Environmental Protection
If you’re an environmentalist like us, you’ll never want to harm the environment with any of your actions. We see duct sealing as a small but significant step toward reducing our energy usage. Lower energy consumption means burning fewer fossil fuels at power plants, which contributes to smog, acid rain, and climate change.
That’s how we can collectively reduce the air pollution we generate. Plus, if we rely less on local power grids and set up our own independent energy solutions, we make our homes more resilient against extreme weather changes.
4. Keep pests out
Pests are easy to keep out, but only when they do not enter the home. Yet, once it enters the doorstep, they forget where they belong! But how do they join? Tiny leaks in your air duct are an open invitation to insects that are not only gross but can also be dangerous to your health. After sealing multiple ducts of our client’s home, we get positive feedback about decreased unwanted guests.
5. Preserve Your Valuables
The benefits extend far beyond your wallet. Sealing ducts help maintain and protect precious and expensive items such as:
- Antiques
- Books
- Appliances
Since these can be damaged by uncontrolled humidity, you have to take care of them as well.
6. Ensure Expensive Appliances Are in Working Order
Another key benefit I’ve noticed is how adequately sealed air ducts ensure that expensive appliances work correctly. There’s nothing worse than having appliances work harder than they need to, risking the emission of harmful gasses or increased wear and tear. Thanks to recommendations like Energy Star, we can also look forward to upgrading to more efficient, lower-cost appliances that offer better dehumidification.
7. Preserve Your Home’s Value
Without proper duct sealing, the integrity of your home is at stake. Leaking water vapors due to humidity are the presence of chemical pollutants, which can easily damage your home’s infrastructure. Over time, these elements lead to a damp, poorly ventilated space that encourages microbial growth. So, if you want to preserve the long-term value of your home, then count this.
Winter Challenges
Winter presents unique challenges, especially concerning leaky ducts that impact your heat pump’s performance. When warm air escapes, the air circulating through your home can feel lukewarm or even cold, causing your backup heating system to work harder than necessary. This reduces comfort and defeats the purpose of having a heat pump in the first place.
The solution?
Sealing and maintaining efficient ductwork. Properly sealed ducts are essential for a comfortable, energy-efficient home.
So, is duct sealing worth it?
If you’re frustrated with an uncomfortable living space and rising energy bills, the answer is a resounding yes—it’s a wise and worthwhile investment.
Can You Install Duct Sealing Yourself?
To be honest, installing duct sealing isn’t a simple task. The complexity requires professionalism and experience. Although you can do some of its tasks on your own, it’s not recommended that you do so. You may waste the material and must comply with all regulations and building codes.
So, what’s the solution?
Contact Ventiluxes
We’re here to plan out the best structure of ducts for your home depending on the size of your home and the air requirement for each room. Contact Ventiluxes if you want to reinstall your ducts or have some leaky ducts you want to fix in your home.
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