Know your Ducts!

In houses with forced – air heating and cooling systems, ducts are used to distribute conditioned air throughout the house.  In a typical house, however, about 20% to 30% of the air that moves through the duct system is lost due to leaks, holes and poorly connected ducts.  The result is higher utility bills and difficulty keeping the house comfortable, no matter how the thermostat is set.

How do you know that your home has poorly performing ducts?

You may have duct problems if:

• You have high summer and winter utility bills.
• You have rooms that are difficult to heat and cool.
• You have stuffy rooms that never seem to feel comfortable.
• Your ducts are located in an attic, crawlspace, or the garage.
• You find tangled or kinked flexible ducts in your system.

What can be done to Improve Comfort, Air Quality, Safety, Save Money, and Protect the Environment?

Because ducts are often concealed in walls, ceilings, attics, basements and crawl spaces, repairing them can be difficult.  But there are things Freedom Solar Energy can do to improve duct performance in your home.  A duct system that is well designed, properly sealed and insulated can make your home more comfortable, energy efficient, and safer.

• Comfort                                                                                     Sealing and insulating ducts can help with common comfort 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, clothes dryers, and furnaces release combustion gases (like carbon monoxide) through their ventilation systems. Leaky ductwork in you heating and cooling system may cause “back drafting,” where these gases are drawn back into the living space, rather than expelled to the outdoors.  Sealing leaks can minimize the risk.
• Save Money                                                                                        Leaky ducts can reduce heating and cooling system efficiency by an average of 20%.  Sealing and insulation ducts increases efficiency, lowers your energy bills, and can often pay for itself in energy savings.  If your ducts leak into a crawl space, or attic you are heating or cooling the outside world and you are not even getting the conditioned air you are paying for.   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.
• Protect the Environment                                                        Energy used in our homes often comes from the burning of fossil fuels at power plants, which contributes to smog, acid rain, and global warming.  Simply put, the less energy we use in our homes, the less air pollution we generate.  By sealing your ducts and reducing the amount of energy necessary to comfortably heat or cool your home, you can reduce the amount of air pollution generated.

SERVICES AVAILABLE FROM FREEDOM SOLAR ENERGY

• Inspect the whole duct system, including attic and crawlspaces.
• Evaluate the system’s supply and return air balance.  Many systems have air return ducts that are too small.
• Repair damaged and disconnected ducts, straighten out flexible ducts that are tangled and crushed.
• Seal all leaks and connections with mastic, UL 181 approved metal tape.
• Seal all registers and grills tightly to the ducts.
• Insulate ducts in unconditioned areas (like attics, crawlspaces, and garages) with duct insulation that carries an R-value of 6 or higher.
• Ensure there is no back drafting of gas or oil burning appliances, and conduct a combustion safety test after ducts are sealed.
• Test Out after all repairs have been made to evaluate the quality of the repairs performed.

908-642-8394