Duct sealing prevents energy waste. But did you do duct sealing also may make your home safer? That’s because leaky ducts may draw carbon monoxide or other combustion gases into your living space. These gases are byproducts of gas-burning appliances, such as furnaces, and they are normally vented outside. When they invade your ducts through leaks, it’s called backdrafting.

If you’re thinking about adding duct sealing to your list of energy-efficiency projects, consider these truths as well:

• Duct sealing helps keep your conditioned air headed in the right direction — whether that’s from your heating and cooling equipment to the rooms in your home or from the rooms back to your equipment. And that can lead to significant savings on your utility bills: One-fifth of the air that travels through ductwork in a typical U.S. home is lost through leaks and poor connections, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.
• If you have rooms that feel stuffy or never seem to get warm or cool enough, you shouldn’t blame your HVAC equipment right away — duct sealing might solve the problem relatively easily. Your furnace might be plugging away, but the air it warms may never reach certain parts of your home if there are major gaps in the ducts.
• Before calling a heating and cooling contractor, you can take a look yourself for signs of leaky ducts. Run your hand along accessible ducts to feel for air leaks. Look for kinks in any flexible ducting, which could signal cracks. And your contractor can use special tools to check for leaks in inaccessible spots, such as inside walls.
• Duct sealing can help improve your indoor air quality. In addition to dangerous gases, dust, chemicals and other contaminants near your ductwork can sneak into your ducts through gaps — which means those pollutants will be distributed throughout your living space.

While it works out of sight and usually out of mind, ductwork is a key part of your HVAC system’s success. If you suspect your ductwork could benefit from sealing, call the certified technicians at Overland Park Heating & Cooling. We’ll be glad to help.

Our goal is to help educate our customers about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems).  For more information about duct sealing and other HVAC topics, download our free Home Comfort Resource guide.

Overland Park Heating & Cooling services Overland Park and surrounding areas in Kansas. Visit our website to see our special offers and get started today!