In traditional HVAC systems, cooled or heated air is carried throughout your home via ducts. These ducts release the air into the vents in your rooms. These ducts may be rigid or flexible, but over time, they become prone to leaks. Even small leaks can make your AC work harder than it should, and this can cause a host of problems. Here are ways you and your HVAC technician can check and repair duct leaks.
How to Know if You Have a Duct Leak
Your ductwork isn’t something you see every day, so you might not immediately know when something is wrong. Here are some signs that your ducts might be leaking.
- Spikes in your energy bill even though you’re not using more energy than usual
- Rooms that are warmer or cooler than other ones
- Decreased blowing strength of cooled air from your AC
- Strange sounds, such as hissing or whistling, from the HVAC
- Lots of dust even though you’re cleaning your home regularly
- Damaged ducts in your basement or crawl space
How Your HVAC Professional Finds and Repairs Leaks
Unless damage to the ductwork is obvious, it can be surprisingly difficult to find a leak in your ductwork. Even a tiny leak can lower your HVAC system’s efficiency. Your technician might need to use a pressure tester or heat-seeking camera to find the leak. If it’s small, the technician can use a variety of sealants to fix it. Here are three of them.
Mastic Sealant
Mastic sealant is a type of paste. Technicians like it because it can be applied in areas that would be difficult to seal with tape.
Aerosol Sealant
This is a polymer that’s sprayed into the ductwork. The HVAC technician pressurizes the ductwork. The aerosol is then sprayed inside and joins the air current. This allows the aerosol to find the area of the leak and stop it up.
Foil Tape
This type of tape has a metal backing and is used not just to seal up ductwork but also to repair other types of home systems.
Duct Tape
Sometimes, duct tape is enough to repair a small leak in your ducts. It has a cloth back, is tough and can be torn by hand. However, many HVAC pros believe duct tape to be a temporary solution until they can make a more permanent fix to a leaking duct. If your ducts are badly damaged, your HVAC professional may need to replace them.
Contact Our Professionals for Ductwork
If you suspect or know that your ducts are leaking, you need to have the problem diagnosed and fixed as soon as you can. For duct sealing in Myrtle Beach, SC, get in touch with our HVAC professionals at Waccamaw Heating, Cooling, and Plumbing.
