This winter, you want to be sure that your home’s HVAC system is running at peak efficiency all season long. Many Grand Rapids homes’ forced air heating relies on ductwork, which is a common point of inefficiency in your home. This can lead to high energy bills, poor indoor air quality (IAQ), comfort problems, and more.
Keep reading to learn more about how you can fix these problems and enjoy a myriad of benefits with duct sealing from the expert team at WMGB Home Improvement.
What is Duct Sealing?
Duct sealing is the process of closing up holes, gaps, and openings in your ductwork to keep your conditioned air from escaping into the unfinished areas of your home like your basement, crawlspace, or attic as it moves from your forced air HVAC system to all the rooms of your home.
Why Should You Seal Your Ducts?
There are a lot of benefits of sealing your home’s ductwork that can make your life better year-round!
1. Boost Your Efficiency
If your duct system is unsealed, it will waste energy by leaking fresh, conditioned air into parts of your home where you don’t want or need conditioned air. By hiring a professional to add sealing around your ducts, areas where ducts connect will lose considerably less air, ensuring that your vents are able to deliver plenty of fresh, warm air to keep you cozy all winter long.Â
2. Save Money
Whether you have a gas furnace, ducted heat pump, or other kind of HVAC system that requires ducts, it’s important to seal leaky ducts in order to maintain your HVAC system’s cost effectiveness. By preventing air leaks in your ductwork, your HVAC system won’t have to work as hard to maintain your home’s comfort preferences, so they won’t need as much fuel to run, and you’ll get to pay less every month!
3. Enjoy Fresher, Healthier Air
Your HVAC system filters your air to keep you healthy and alleviate allergy symptoms like a runny nose, headaches, and itchy eyes. If you have pets, it also helps remove pet dander from the air you breathe! But if all your clean, conditioned air leaks out of your ductwork, replacing your air filters every month won’t do you much good. In this way, insulating your ducts can truly make your home healthier.
4. Help Your HVAC System Live Longer
Remember how we mentioned that having a well-sealed duct system can help lower your monthly utility bills? It can also save you money by prolonging the life of your heating system.
Think of your HVAC system as being similar to a car. For a normal car of any age, you’ll see a major difference in the number of repairs, maintenance needs, and even breakdowns if you drive 18,000 miles a year versus 50,000. Not only will you see a difference in day-to-day operation for a vehicle traveling 50,000 miles a year, the car will also be unlikely to last as long as a comparable model going 18,000 annually.Â
In an efficient HVAC system with well-sealed ducts, you’ll be able to enjoy a longer system lifespan because the system doesn’t have to work as hard to reach your desired comfortable levels.
5. Care for the Environment
Protecting the environment is almost always a major bonus for Kalamazoo homeowners who are exploring duct sealing for their house. Because you’ll need less fuel to run your heating system, you’ll make less of an impact on the environment, your local air quality, and the environment surrounding your home.
