The ductwork is one of the longest-term parts of your home's HVAC system. While you will need to repair or replace furnaces, air conditioners, dehumidifiers, and other mechanical parts of the system, it's much easier to ignore your ductwork. In fact, there's a good chance you're still using the ductwork that originally came with your home.
Despite its durability, ductwork can occasionally become a source of headaches and HVAC problems. These four facts will help you understand more about your home's ductwork so you can recognize and address any problems.
1. Duct Leakage Can Be Significant
The EPA estimates that a typical home can lose as much as 30% of its HVAC system efficiency to ductwork leakage. Ductwork can often develop leaks over time, especially with poor installation. Air moves through your home's ducts at a relatively high velocity, which can cause poorly installed ducts to shift and exacerbate problems with joints or bends.
You may consider a duct leakage test to assess your current ductwork if you have an older home. This test can help you determine if you're losing an unacceptable amount of air to leakage.
2. Not All Duct Problems Require Demolition
You might worry about addressing issues with your ductwork because you don't want to tear down walls or ceilings. While replacing your home's ducts can be a significant project, most houses have a significant amount of exposed ductwork. For example, you may have ductwork running through your attic, basement, crawl space, or other unfinished areas.
If you discover significant duct leakage, an HVAC contractor may be able to help you locate and repair problems in exposed areas. Although this approach won't eliminate all leakage, it can help reduce the problem.
3. Inspections Are Valuable Tools
Duct cleaning can be a contentious topic, but there's no question that indoor air quality can affect your health. Many parts of your HVAC system can impact air quality, from your air filter to the condition of your evaporator coils and heat exchanger. If your ductwork contains a significant amount of dust, debris, or mold, that can also impact the quality of your home's air.
However, you don't necessarily have to schedule a blind cleaning. Instead, a ductwork inspection can help reveal the overall state of the ducts in your home. This inspection can help you understand if duct cleaning is necessary.
4. You May Eventually Need New Ductwork
You generally don't need to replace your ductwork when you replace other components in your HVAC system, but that doesn't mean your ducts will last forever. If you're installing a new air conditioner or furnace, having your HVAC contractor inspect your ductwork is helpful. They will look for problems such as poor installation, inadequate airflow, damage, and so on.
If you find significant problems with your ductwork, it can be cost-effective to replace it. Although installing new ductwork is a significant project, it can improve the performance and efficiency of your whole system. Over the long run, spending that money now can save you money in the future.
For more information on your HVAC system, contact a professional near you.
Share31 October 2022
Hi there, I am Nadine Bachmier. I am going to discuss the various ways HVAC contractors can keep the temperatures in your business stable. HVAC contractors focus on maintaining and repairing the air conditioner, furnace, and ductwork used in your building. To keep the heating and cooling system in good shape, contractors may need to replace internal components, clean out channels, or simply perform a full upgrade. I will talk about the tools and techniques used to maintain and repair the equipment in your building. I will also share information about new products as they hit the HVAC market. I hope you will follow along and learn all you can.