According to the Energy Star program, about 20 percent of the air traveling through ductwork in the average home is lost through leaks and holes. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory pegs that figure more broadly at 10 to 30 percent. Regardless, any leaking at all is a problem, says Benjamin Meredith, whose company, Building Knowledge, performs home inspections and home energy audits in and around Harrisonburg.
Call it death by a thousand leaks. If your home is like pretty much every other American home that heats or cools with a forced-air system (where the heated or cooled air travels through ducts and out registers in the floor or ceiling), one if its most inefficient features is almost certainly that ductwork.
According to the Energy Star program, about 20 percent of the air traveling through ductwork in the average home is lost through leaks and holes. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory pegs that figure more broadly at 10 to 30 percent. Regardless, any leaking at all is a problem, says Benjamin Meredith, whose company, Building Knowledge, performs home inspections and home energy audits in and around Harrisonburg.
Losing air to leaky ductwork in unconditioned basement and attic space (where most ductwork typically is found) is no different than taking your heated or cooled air and blowing it straight out the window. Not ideal for your energy bill, your environmental footprint or your in-home comfort. To earn an Energy Star rating, a home’s HVAC system can lose a maximum of 5 percent of its air to leakage.
Properly sealed ducts will help you in two ways. First, they will make sure very nearly every little bit of air you pay to heat or cool will stay inside your house where you want it to be. And second, they’ll keep your house warmer (or cooler) longer. When air isn’t being forced through your leaky ductwork, the ducts serve as conduits for outside air – uncomfortably hot or cold, depending on the season – to enter your house, meaning your climate control system will have to cut on more often, and blow more conditioned air outside all over again.
Ideally, your ducts will be thoroughly sealed when they’re being installed. In reality, this probably won’t happen, according to Meredith, who says many HVAC contractors don’t use a proper mastic sealant around joints and seams to prevent air leakage.
If your ducts weren’t sealed well, or at all, the prescription is fairly simple: get them sealed. The actual sealing isn’t terribly hard or complicated work, Meredith says, though it can get messy. The hardest part sometimes can simply be accessing ductwork hidden away in hard-to-reach crawlspaces and attics.
One thing to be clear about: sealing ducts is not the same as insulating ducts. Duct insulation is important, and it’s more commonly done than duct sealing, but insulation around your ductwork doesn’t stop air from leaking out holes in that ductwork. If the ductwork has been insulated but not sealed, you’ll have to take off the insulation, seal the ducts, and then put the insulation back. It’ll take a bit of work, but it’ll be worth it in the long run.
This content about Harrisonburg Ductwork was originally posted at LiveHB.com, a website focused on Harrisonburg Real Estate.
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