Heating and Cooling Ductwork
Your heating and cooling ductwork may be wasting a lot of your energy dollars. Your home's duct system carries the air from your home's furnace and central air conditioner to each room. Ducts are made of sheet metal, fiber glass, or other materials.
Unfortunately, many duct systems are poorly insulated or not insulated properly. Ducts that leak heated air into unheated spaces can add hundreds of dollars a year to your heating and cooling bills. Insulating ducts that are in unconditioned spaces is usually very cost effective.
Sealing your ducts to prevent leaks is even more important if the ducts are located in an unconditioned area such as an attic or vented crawl space.
If the supply ducts are leaking, heated or cooled air can be forced out unsealed joints and lost. In addition, unconditioned air can also be drawn into return ducts through unsealed joints. In the summer, hot attic air can be drawn in, increasing the load on the air conditioner. In the winter, your furnace will have to work longer to keep your house comfortable.
Either way, your energy losses cost you money.
Although minor duct repairs are easy to accomplish, ducts in unconditioned spaces should be sealed and insulated by using the appropriate sealing materials.
Here are a few simple tips to help with minor duct repairs.
Check your ducts for air leaks. First look for sections that should be joined but have separated and then look for obvious holes.
If your duct joints have been sealed with cloth duct tape, look for cracks, loose and peeling tape. Cloth duct tape becomes dry and brittle with age and should be replaced with fiberglass tape and Hy-Tech Vapor Mastic.
Simply imbed the fiberglass tape into the Hy-Tech Mastic, apply one coat on top and you will have an insulating, elastic, vapor resistant, long lasting seal.
Insulating ducts in the basement will make the basement colder. If both the ducts and the basement walls are uninsulated, consider insulating the basement walls and the ducts with Barrier Coat insulating heat reflecting coating..
If your basement has been converted to a living area, install both supply and return registers in the basement rooms.
Be sure a well-sealed vapor barrier exists on the outside of the insulation on cooling ducts to prevent moisture buildup, again Barrier Coat is an easy solution.
For major duct repair or replacement consult a professional.
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