Learn About Duct System Solutions to Make Your Home More Efficient

In a home HVAC system, air circulates through a series of ducts (or tunnels). The ducts distributes warm air in the wintertime and cool in the summertime. As a result, maintaining a leak free duct system makes a big difference in your home comfort. Additionally, ensuring all open spaces contain proper insulation, especially when unconditioned space includes part of the duct system.

Why?

If our duct systems leak air from our heating/cooling systems, these leaks result in throwing money out a window unnecessarily. To help, learn more about duct system solutions that help improve your home comfort.

Types of Duct Systems

Heating/cooling ducts are divided into two basic types: Supply ducts and Return ducts. Supply ducts carry warm, heated air or cooled, air conditioned air from your furnace and into your home. Return ducts work in the opposite direction. Return ducts allow the air from the different areas of your home to flow back to the furnace.

Frequently, supply and return ducts reside in unconditioned attics, garages, crawl spaces and basements. For example, then ducts in unconditioned spaces leak, the heated from your furnace simply leaves the home. As a result, heated air moves outside, which makes your furnace work harder. Conversely, leaky ducts in the summer mean cooled air leaves your home. As a result, your air conditioner must work harder and make your home uncomfortable. However, duct leaks within conditioned spaces do not result in the severe energy penalty as leaks within unconditioned spaces. But, leaks still create poor comfort conditions within homes.

Uninsulated ductwork in unconditioned attics, garages, crawl spaces and basements also result in excessive heat loss and poor heating/cooling system efficiency. For heating systems, uninsulated ducts carry very warm air from your furnace to all of the rooms in your house. Uninsulated ducts lose their heat quickly robbing your house of the warm air needed for comfort. Similarly, uninsulated ducts carrying cool air from your air conditioning system gain heat quickly from attics, garages, crawl spaces and basements severely crippling your home’s air conditioning system.

GreenHomes recommends ALL ductwork be completely sealed. In addition, heating and cooling ducts should be insulated in all unconditioned spaces or where condensation can occur on ductwork.