Sealing your air ducts can yield a range of benefits. Therefore, it’s important to recognize the signs of leaky ducts affecting your home. Air ducts are mostly in hard-to-access areas; you don’t usually see them. But some clues can indicate you may need duct sealing. Call an HVAC company if you notice:
When you walk through your home, do you notice one room is at a comfortable temperature, while another room may be too warm and another is too chilly? Leaky air ducts are a common cause of this problem. Holes, tears, and loose connections can prevent your central HVAC system from properly distributing air throughout your home.
Disruptions in airflow caused by leaky ducts can prevent your AC from circulating air, leading to stale and stuffy conditions. Resetting the thermostat won’t restore comfort. Neither will opening windows or running fans to increase ventilation. The problem won’t go away unless you address the underlying cause.
Ideally, the humidity level in your home should be between 30% and 50%. Any higher and it can get quite uncomfortable, and mold and bacteria can grow. That’s because air leaks can prevent the removal of water vapor from appliances and allow humid air in from outside. Duct sealing can resolve such issues and also prevent pest infestations and damage to electronics.
Your HVAC system should provide comfortable air that is odor-free. If the air doesn’t smell fresh and clean, duct sealing can help. Otherwise, air from the kitchen may reach other parts of your home, so cooking odors may be present in, for example, a bedroom. Unfiltered, polluted air may also enter from outside, so odors from vehicle exhaust, smoke, or wildlife may be noticeable indoors.
Leaky ducts can decrease indoor air quality, which is problematic because pollutants can be many times more concentrated than outdoors. These can include pollen, mold spores, smoke, dust, chemicals, and volatile organic compounds. They may cause symptoms such as eye, nose, and throat irritation as well as headache, dizziness, coughing, sneezing, sinus congestion, or shortness of breath.
A simple test can help determine if you need duct sealing. Close all exterior doors and windows, and close your interior doors. Turn on the central air handler and set it as you usually would. Then, open the interior doors just slightly. After a while, check whether any of them have moved, which can indicate an issue with air circulation or pressure caused by an air duct leak.
Poorly sealed ducts can create loud noises as conditioned air is distributed throughout the system. If air is escaping, you may hear loud whistling or hissing sounds. These are an indication of air loss. The system will work harder to compensate. Therefore, if ignored, the noises can precede equipment damage and breakdowns.
If dust blows from vents when you turn on the AC or furnace, your ductwork may be contaminated. This is often due to leaks that allow in dust and debris. Call an HVAC company to determine if duct sealing can resolve the problem.
Check ducts in your basement, attic, or crawlspace. If an air duct has holes, it must be sealed or otherwise repaired. Kinked or tangled ductwork should also be fixed. A leak can cause changes in air pressure that pull on flexible ducts. High pressure in any part of the system can create leaks and make existing ones worse.
Energy bills can fluctuate seasonally. But the signs you may benefit from duct sealing are most evident in summer and winter when your heating and cooling system works hardest. Conditioned air may be escaping into parts of your house that don’t need it. Your HVAC unit will also struggle to manage the temperature if hot or cold air is leaking in from outside. Therefore, it’ll use more energy and cause your utility bills to increase.
We use the latest methods to seal air ducts in Southern California homes. Our fully licensed and insured technicians use advanced tools to check for and measure air loss and identify the location of leaks. Any type of leakage can be fixed to restore comfort, indoor air quality, and efficiency. We ensure you’ll see short-term and long-term savings. To schedule an evaluation and duct sealing, call (805) 301-6788 today.
