Prevent Wallet-Drain Due to Leaky Air Conditioning Ducts

Leaky air-con ducts lead to poor home cooling, extended waste of their time and expensive gulps of wallet-drain. Yet inferior AC duct connections are normal in homes through the entire nation.

It's a real straightforward matter: Efficient home cooling involves more than merely pumping refrigerated air in a hot house. It is a procedure for heat exchange that corrects in lieu of conquers the interior living space. To be effective, your house air conditioning system must circulate the present air while stripping heat and humidity through the enclosed environment. A home with leaky ac ducts doesn't perform the duty effectively.

A 20 Percent Waste Factor

According to federal Energy Star reports, the normal home air-con system looses as much as twenty percent efficiency through leaky ductwork. Here is a huge selection of benefits you'll be able to gain by correcting the problem:

** Lower energy bills

** Lower repair costs

** Fewer repairs

** More efficient system

** More comfortable rooms as a result of better system distribution of air flow

** Cleaner indoor air because of reduced intake of irritants and allergens

** A sense of personal environmental stewardship

** Peace of mind in through an HVAC system that functions at peak efficiently and safety.

Sealing Your Home's Leaky AC Ductwork

Simple as it can certainly sound, inspecting and restoring your home's air cooling duct system can be hot, sweaty and risky. Most likely, you'll be required to enter in the crawl space. In some events, you will probably should enter the attic. Furthermore, you may have to help home insulation materials, restricted maneuvering space and darkness.

Before beginning the method, take a flashlight and poke your mind in your home's crawl space. On some houses, this space is indeed tight that even air cooling repair professionals groan before entering. If you are scared of snakes, hate spiders or have certain closterfobic responses to tight places, just close the hatch and call any local AC service center.

Still need to do the work yourself? Here goes:

1) Proper Clothing - Pull out or obtain a mechanic's jumpsuit. A cheap one costs around $15.00, but better protection originates from heavy duty equipment. A jumpsuit gives you full body protection against dirt, grime and creepy crawling things. It also offers an extended variety of pockets for carrying choice tools.

2) Tools - Sealing AC ductwork doesn't take a lot of tools. You need:

** Closable box cutter with extra blades.

** Flashlight equipped which has a focus adjustable base.

** One-inch wide, extended-reach paint brush.

** A standard dust mask

** Tin snips and tie-down straps, the very first for trimming back joints as well as the second for re-hanging fallen ductwork.

** Backup flashlight for emergency exit.

** A roll of two-inch wide or three-inch wide, cold weather HVAC Aluminum Foil tape.

** A four foot amount of one-inch PVC pipe by having an elbow on one end - this program moving fallen insulation, left behind debris and when necessary an aggressive snake.

** HVAC certified sealant fitting these testing procedures: ASTM E84, NFPA 255 or UL 723. The flame spread rate have to be under 25. The smoke development rate should be lower than 50. These products can be purchased in a caulk-tube format, but you need to also use a brush to stay the sealing.

3) Sealing Process - Making Your Air Conditioning Ducts Airtight

This is visual process. In the event of holes in flex duct - often created by critters trying to stay warm throughout the winter - you have to apply winter HVAC Aluminum Foil tape. If the insulation is missing, you might should acquire additional flex duct, make a cut after which connect and reseal the finished work.

To seal connections and split-joints apply tape and/or sealant as seems best to the situation. In the event that the joints aren't cut correctly, use box cutters or tin snips as suits conditions to generate a better fit and then apply tape or sealant.

To seal vents at the room entry way, apply certified HVAC sealant. Take your time. Make certain that the caulk spreads fully and retains experience of the purpose of application. Be sure to seal the outdoors with the floor joists in which the return air connection passes from the flooring. It also never hurts to cap-off the interior wall cavities in which the flashing passes through.

If necessary, perform exactly the same processes in your attic and/or garage.

Additional Notes on Sealing Air Conditioning Ducts

Perhaps all this seems overkill. Think about which type consequences will come about if lungs designed a series of pin-holes. It wouldn't require much time for breathing being labored and inefficient. Every small leak increases the accumulated home cooling losses and expenses.

** Special Warning: If you encounter water or other signs and symptoms of sewage leakage, emerge from under the house. Find a professional plumber to deal with the specific situation, and get issues of safety cleared up before continuing along with your AC duct system repairs.

So get dressed to the occasion. Gear up with the right tools. Seal your leaky air cooling ducts. Isn't it time you add an end to unnecessary wallet-drain.