Something is stealing away the energy you use to heat and cool your home. Hidden behind the walls, underneath your feet, over your head, its tendrils extend throughout your house. With every twist and turn, around every corner, it could be letting your energy ooze out and disappear.

It’s the ductwork system that delivers conditioned air throughout your Dallas area home. These ducts are typically made of sheet metal or fiberglass. If they have cracks or holes, the air you paid good money to heat or cool is leaking out and never getting to the intended location.

What can you do to stop this from happening?

• Locate where air is leaking. Check the ductwork wherever you have access. Look for joints that have separated; for holes or gaps; for cracks where the tubing bends or has been creased. If your furnace or air conditioner is operating, run your hand along the ductwork to feel air leaking out.
• You can use tape to seal the leaks you find, but you should avoid the popular, silver-colored duct tape. Experts recommend foil tape, butyl tape, mastic or other heat-resistant tapes with the UL logo.
• You can wrap insulation around the tubing, especially sections that are located in areas where the air isn’t being cooled or heated. Be sure to use insulation with a vapor barrier on the outside to prevent moisture buildup.
• In addition to putting an end to the loss of your home’s energy (as much as 60 percent), duct sealing will:
• Reduce the possibility of carbon monoxide building up in your home;
• Increase the whole-house comfort level of your home;
• Reduce sneezing and sniffling by reducing pollutants circulating though your home that can make asthma or allergy symptoms worse.

Even after you find and seal air leaks in your ductwork system, consider having a trained professional check your system and seal areas that you were unable to get to. Before you do anything, they can also come in and inspect your ductwork to give you a professional analysis of your system. The technicians at Crawford Servicesare highly trained and licensed to track down and eliminate those leaks that are stealing expensive conditioned air from your home.

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.

Crawford Services provides heating, air conditioning and plumbing services to all of North Texas. Visit our website to see our special offers and get started today!