How To Prevent HVAC Ductwork Leaks Prior To Winter

When the cold weather of winter comes around, you'll want to take some steps to ensure that your HVAC system is ready to deal with it. It can be expensive to heat a home, and heat loss is going to cost you in high energy bills. You can prevent heat loss by adding insulation to portions of ductwork that are exposed in your home.

Use Insulation Rolls or Insulation Jackets

There are two ways that you can insulate your HVAC system ductwork. One way is to buy an insulation jacket that wraps around your ductwork. It is very convenient since they are sold in sizes that fit your specific sized ductwork, and all you need to do is wrap the jacket around the ductwork and secure it. This can be great for exposed ductwork in a garage that is easy to gain access to, where you have full access around the entire section.

The other way to do insulate the ductwork is by using rolled insulation. As the name implies, it comes in large rolls that you wrap around the ductwork, which makes it great for fitting odd sized sections or when you cannot wrap insulation around all 4 sides. This is ideal for basements where the ductwork is attached to the ceiling and you only have 3 sides exposed.

Tape The Ductwork Seam

Another option is to seal the places where air is most likely to leak out of the ductwork. You can do this by taping the seams of the ductwork where two sections of metal meet. The seam may appear to be airtight, but adding some tape to the seams will help ensure that all of the heat is staying in the ductwork and traveling to the various rooms of the house.

All you need to do is purchase some metal backed HVAC tape from your local home improvement store, and liberally wrap it around all of the seams where air could leak out. There is no harm in putting on too much tape, since it will only hold more air in the ductwork as a better seal is formed.

If you are going to use insulation and tape the seams, be sure to tape the seams before the insulation is applied. The insulation will be more effective if there is not an air leak underneath that you can not longer get to.

For help doing HVAC system maintenance prior to winter, contact an HVAC contractor in your area such as Boyers  R S Heating &  Air Conditioning Inc.


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