The duct system in your home is vital to ensuring that cool air from your air conditioner and warm air from your heater gets where it needs to go. Normally, they don’t encounter any problems, since they’re tucked safely away in your attic or in the crawlspace between your walls. But breaches can occur, either because the ducts suffer damage, or because the bolts and fittings become loose.
When they do, it can lead to a serious problem. Not only will it mixed unconditioned air with the cool or warm air flowing through your ducts, but it can also bring dust and other contaminants in as well. The results will force your air conditioner to work harder in order to do its job, raising your energy bills each month and elevating the chances of another part of the system breaking down. The good news is that Hammond, LA has a service that can perform duct sealing duties to correct the problem. But before you call them, you need to spot the signs that you need duct sealing. Here are 3 of them to look out for:
1. Strange Noises
Noises are often the best way to spot a duct breach: whistling, humming or groaning sounds as conditioned air escapes the ducts through the breach. It also saves the repair technician work, since it makes the breach fairly easy to pinpoint.
2. Reduced Airflow
If the breach is pulling air out of your ducts, you can spot it by looking for reduced airflow out of the duct it services. As with the odd noises, this makes a good way of winnowing down the possible locations of the breach.
3. Mixed Air
If you’re running your air conditioner in the summer, then a breach may make the air warmer than it should be. If you’re running it in the winter, then the air won’t be warm enough. Either way you should be able to detect it without too much difficulty by comparing the temperature between ducts.
Once you’ve determined you need duct sealing, call A Professional Heating and Air to have them sealed the right way!