Air ducts are one of the most important systems in your home, as they carry the air from your home’s furnace and central air conditioner to each room. If the ducts are poorly sized, poorly sealed, or poorly insulated, they are likely contributing to higher energy bills.
Maintain proper air flow
You can often address discomfort from heating and cooling by fixing blocked registers, stuck dampers, or disconnected or damaged ducts, or by replacing register grilles that don’t direct the air adequately.
Fix leaks
Ducts that leak air into an attic or crawl space can add hundreds of dollars a year to your heating and cooling bills. Insulating and sealing ducts in unconditioned spaces is usually very cost effective. If the supply ducts are leaking, heated or cooled air can be forced out of unsealed joints and lost. In addition, unconditioned air can be drawn into return ducts through unsealed joints.
Insulate ducts
If you are installing a new duct system, talk to your contractor about options for locating the ducts in conditioned spaces or insulating any ducts that will run outside of conditioned spaces.
Use a pro
Hire a qualified professional to perform changes and repairs to a duct system. All duct sealing should be tested by a qualified professional to ensure combustion safety and proper air flow.