Sealing and Insulating Air Ducts



duct leakage

from hot attics can leak into the home around registers of the duct system. Air in the ducts can leak out through holes and seams.

An enormous waste of energy occurs when cooled air escapes from supply ducts or when hot attic air leaks into return ducts. Recent indicate that 10% to 30% of the conditioned air in an average central air conditioning system escapes from the ducts.

For central air conditioning to be efficient, ducts must be airtight. Hiring a competent professional service technician to detect and correct duct leaks is a good investment, since leaky ducts may be difficult to find without experience and test equipment.

Ducts must be sealed with duct “mastic.” The old standby of duct tape is ineffective for sealing ducts.

Obstructions can impair the efficiency of a duct system almost as much as leaks. You should be careful not to obstruct the flow of air from supply or return registers with furniture, drapes, or tightly fitted doors. Dirty filters and clogged evaporator coils can also be major obstructions to air flow.

The large difference between attics and ducts makes conduction through ducts almost as big a problem as air leakage and obstructions. Ducts in attics should be insulated heavily in addition to being made airtight.