The average Louisville area home loses a notable amount of heating and cooling energy through leaks in its duct system. These leaks lead to HVAC inefficiency, energy waste, discomfort, and other issues in the home. Thankfully, duct sealing is a viable option for most homes, and the benefits of duct sealing undo the problems caused by ductwork inefficiencies.
Jarboe’s Heating, Cooling & Plumbing offers professional duct sealing services for homeowners throughout the Louisville area. Because air leaks in the duct system are such a common and significant source of energy waste, our NATE-certified technicians explain how the benefits of duct sealing impact your home’s efficiency, comfort, and more. We encourage you to take advantage of the benefits of duct sealing in your home today – contact us to receive a free estimate for duct sealing services!
When your home’s furnace, heat pump, or air conditioner cycles, warmed or cooled air is pushed through the duct system into your living areas. While you expect all of this conditioned air to reach your living areas and benefit you there, that’s typically not the case – most homes’ ductwork allows for significant air loss through duct leaks.
On average, a home loses 20% to 30% of its heating and cooling energy through leaky ducts, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. So, around 70% to 80% of the conditioned air produced by your heating and cooling system enters your home’s interiors – the rest spills out into other areas of the home where it has no benefit to you.
Duct leaks occur most anywhere throughout the home’s duct system. The duct system’s supply side and return side are both vulnerable to wasteful air leaks. The supply side is the section of the duct system that moves conditioned air from your HVAC system to your home’s interiors; the return side takes air back to the HVAC system from your living areas. Leaks are often found due to the following:
The heating and cooling loss that results from leaks in the duct system creates noticeable issues inside your home and more, including:
Duct sealing is a process done to close up air leaks in the duct system and stop the problems mentioned above. The benefits of duct sealing help Louisville homeowners in the following ways:
With air leaks present in your home’s duct system, you’re essentially throwing heating and cooling dollars away as conditioned air escapes the duct system before reaching your living areas. As much as 20 to 30% of your heating and cooling bills could be cut if you eliminate leaks through the benefits of duct sealing.
Not only is energy wasted through air leaks, it’s also wasted by the additional work required of your home’s HVAC system. Because such a significant portion of your heated or cooled air is lost through the ducts, your heating and cooling system has to do more work to make up for the loss in order to keep your home at comfortable temperatures. This is energy spend that could be eliminated through duct sealing.
By sealing off these points of escape in your duct system and preventing extra, unnecessary work, the benefits of duct sealing help Louisville homeowners conserve energy. Once leaks are sealed, the HVAC system runs fewer cycles to produce the same temperature levels that once took several more cycles due to energy loss.
Clearly, the benefits of duct sealing directly impact your utility bills. Since your HVAC system is consuming less energy to do the same job, your bills are lower. The savings generated through the benefits of duct sealing help the service pay for itself over a period of time.
When duct leaks exist, it is quite difficult to achieve comfortable temperatures in your home. A portion of the heating or cooling called for by your thermostat is lost before it ever reaches you, so you must run more cycles. It takes longer for your heating and cooling equipment to generate the temperatures you want in your living areas, which can be quite frustrating for homeowners.
Escaping energy isn’t the only problem posed by duct leaks – you also have to battle air infiltration, which affects temperature control. Ductwork commonly lies in areas of the home that are not normally conditioned, like attics, basements, and crawlspaces. The air in these areas often has a significant temperature difference from the air traveling through your ducts.
Once unconditioned air infiltrates the duct system through a leak, it throws off the temperature of the air going into your home. Because you don’t receive the temperatures you want, your HVAC system has to make up for this difference by doing more work and consuming more energy. Air infiltration also increases the amount of time it takes for your HVAC equipment to produce the desired effect in your living areas.
When duct leaks are eliminated through the benefits of duct sealing, you gain better control over indoor temperatures and home comfort. Your heating and cooling systems are able to achieve desired indoor temperatures with fewer cycles, thanks to the lack of air loss and infiltration.
The duct leaks that allow unconditioned air to infiltrate the system also allow contaminants in, which diminishes air quality in your home. The high concentrations of dust, dirt, mold, and other debris in your basement, attic, or crawlspace enter your air supply and your living areas, where your family is exposed. Higher concentrations of these particles cause physical discomfort and health symptoms, especially amongst family members with allergies and asthma.
The benefits of duct sealing have a critical impact on air quality in your home. By eliminating points of access through duct leaks, more contaminants are kept out of your air supply and out of your living areas. Duct sealing also helps keep your ducts cleaner, as airborne contaminants come to rest inside the duct system and must be cleaned out to prevent recirculation.
The benefits of duct sealing play an important role in protecting your heating and cooling equipment from damage. When the HVAC system is forced to run extra cycles to make up for air loss and unconditioned air infiltration, it sustains more wear and tear. The damaging effects of wear and tear mount over time, leading to an increased risk of system breakdowns. Wear and tear issues can also cause the system to fail well before it reaches its expected service life, leaving you on the hook for early replacement costs.
By reducing the amount of work your heating and cooling equipment must do, the benefits of duct sealing protect your system from damage. Less wear and tear allow the system to operate efficiently for longer, with less risk of breakdown and system failure.
At Jarboe’s Heating, Cooling & Plumbing, we utilize Aeroseal to deliver benefits of duct sealing in Louisville area homes. Our process closes duct leaks from within. There is no disruption to your home, as there is no need to create access to difficult-to-reach sections of the duct system to close leaks.
Before duct sealing is done, a pre-test is performed by one of our NATE-certified HVAC technicians. This is a pressure test that shows us if air is leaking from your home’s duct system. If air loss is observed, we recommend duct sealing. This process provides peace of mind that the services you receive are actually needed.
While the duct system is closed off and under pressure, safe, non-toxic Aeroseal sealant is added into the system. It circulates with airflow through the duct system and attaches to the edges of leaks as air is forced out. The sealant fully closes breaches within the duct system to prevent further energy loss and allow your duct system to retain heating and cooling energy.
The benefits of duct sealing with Aeroseal include minimal disruption to your home and daily life. The process is completed much faster than traditional duct sealing methods. The amount of labor required is also reduced, which reduces costs for our customers. Once the process is complete, we test your duct system again to measure the decrease in air leakage after duct sealing – you receive a copy of the report, and we think you’ll be pleased with the results duct sealing achieves!
Get rid of duct air leaks and instantly create savings on your energy bills! The benefits of duct sealing service create a more efficient and comfortable home, so why wait? Contact Jarboe’s today to request a free estimate for duct sealing service in your Louisville area home.